Kunoichi in Training
by Rivum
Summary: Ever since she was little, Kumiko has wanted to be a great Kunoichi. One even greater than Lady Tsunade, which is practically impossible! Then, after graduating, she was put on a team with an eccentric youthful jounin, a kid who's basically a carbon copy of their jounin, and a genius who's got a stick shoved so far up his-! Ahem! Anyways, life's about to get crazy for her.
1. Kumiko

**Hellooooo everyone! Rivum here with a new story, this time, for Naruto! So, I think I should explain some things before I start the story. Kumiko is an OC, but not a SI. If you guys are looking for a good SI though, I totally recommend _Butterfly Child_ by KlonoaDreams. Best. Story. Ever.**

**Continuing on, Kumiko IS the kunoichi of Team Gai. She replaces Tenten on the team. Tenten _will_ still be in the story, but only as an extra. She's one of my favorite characters, even though she doesn't have much screen time, so I can't just act like she doesn't exist! Don't think that this is just me sticking an OC in the place of Tenten, she'll be doing _a lot_ more than Tenten does in the anime/manga.**

**I will not be using honorifics like -kun, -san, -chan, etc., but only because I don't understand them. The only one I know correctly is -sama.**

**This story will NOT be a huge romance thing. It's mainly friendship/adventure. There _will_ be some, but it's mainly after the huge time skip. This is _EVENTUAL_ Neji/OC because, come on, who wouldn't want that cute genius?!**

**I think I've said everything for now! Honestly, I'm hoping this is a fun story for you guys to read. I'll try and update every couple of days, most likely sooner if this story is actually liked. I will not bother you with these long messages at the beginning, but I may reply to reviews at the bottom, or ask questions at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: Rivum does _not_ own anything that has to do with Naruto, except her OC's Kumiko, and her father.**

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Rabu Kumiko gave an exasperated sigh as she leaned back against the tree. She was absolutely tired. All day she's been training, trying to perfect her jutsu. It wasn't working very well, considering she didn't really have someone to test it out on. Maybe she can convince Lee to help her with it. After all, he's generally okay with her using him as a guinea pig as long as she promises to spar with him afterward.

Pushing herself off the tree, Kumiko bent over to pick her little doll up. Glancing at it in distaste, she then stuffed in her bag. The only reason she even used this jutsu was because her father did, and it was the only one he was good at teaching with. Maybe she should just head back to town.

Beginning her trek back to town, Kumiko extended her arms to soak in the warmth from the sun. Since she's been training all day, she hasn't really had a few minutes to herself. The seconds passed, and Kumiko was beginning to feel a bit careless. Who cared? It's not like anyone was around to-

_Splash!_

Kumiko's eyes snapped open, and a fire was burning in them. "Arf!"

"Good aim Akamaru!"

"Kiba! Your dog peed on me!" Kumiko screamed as she searched widely around for the boy and his dog. She glared when the duo appeared beside her, jumping down from a tree. Kiba was rubbing the back of his head shamefully while Akamaru was yipping next to his owner.

"Sorry Kumiko. I didn't know it was you that it landed on." Kiba apologized. Kumiko rolled her eyes as she took off her dark red vest, which was thankfully the only thing that had gotten hit.

"Whatever. You're going to clean this though." Kumiko ordered as she shoved the vest in the young boy's arms.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Inuzuka Kiba is a boy that Kumiko had just met a couple weeks ago, but they've already become friends. He's on a team with another boy named Aburame Shino, and Neji's cousin, Hyuuga Hinata. Speaking of the other two, where were they?

"Oi, where's Shino and Hinata?" Kumiko questioned as she glanced around. Since the three were a team, they usually were always together. Kumiko had known Hinata previously due to her and Neji being cousins, and Kumiko constantly visiting Neji when he'd train with his uncle. She met Shino and Kiba when the group had been put together.

"Right here." Shino spoke up as he and Hinata walked over to her. Kumiko grinned as she spotted Hinata.

"Hime!" Kumiko exclaimed, pulling Hinata into a hug. The young girl blushed at being pushed against Kumiko's chest, and being called a princess.

"Hello, Kumiko." Hinata quietly said with a small smile. "It's still odd hearing you call me that." Kumiko pulled away and smiled fondly at Hinata.

"Well quit acting like one and I wouldn't call you it." Kumiko laughed.

Ever since Kumiko has first met Hinata, she's always thought of the young girl as a princess. The way she acted, the way she talked, and the way she looked. Neji would always tell her not to call Hinata that, but she doesn't care. Hinata enjoys it, and so does Kumiko.

"Hello Shino. I didn't mean to skip my introduction with you." Kumiko said as she smiled at the bug boy, who nodded.

"Hello Kumiko." He greeted. "You're training I assume?" Kumiko nodded.

Quite often when she trains, she runs into this little trio, as they usually train in the forest, since Hinata and Kiba need space to train, and Shino works with bugs that are mainly in the forest. Kumiko thought that was a smart move on the people who put the teams together. She would be training with her own team, but they were on a mission for only guys.

"I was, but I just got tired since I didn't really have anyone to help me test things out." She sighed, leaning against a tree again. "Plus, Akamaru peed on me…so that's also making me stop."

"Hey I said I'll get it cleaned!" Kiba exclaimed, but he was ignored.

"I can help you t-train if you'd like." Hinata offered. Kumiko smiled gently at the young girl.

"No it's okay Hime. I don't mind. I can get Lee to help me. Can't have you kids catching onto my skills now can I?" Kumiko joked.

Hinata shook her head with a smile. "No, I guess not."

"I should get going now. My father is probably wondering what's taking me so long." Kumiko told them, as she pulled Hinata into another hug. "I'll see you some other time." She let Hinata go and waved to Kiba and Shino. "Bye boys. Kiba, I expect that returned to me by tomorrow."

"Sure."

"Bye."

Kumiko had honestly planned to return to her home when she left the forest to go back into the village, but had gotten a bit sidetracked by a blond haired boy and his companions.

"Look out!" Someone shouted, before Kumiko had felt someone fall on top of her. She collapsed onto the ground a bit too hard.

"Ow." She grumbled as she held her head a bit. Who the-

"Naruto you idiot!" She heard the familiar sound of Haruno Sakura's voice.

"Whoops." Someone spoke, and the weight had been literally lifted off Kumiko. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Kumiko said as someone helped her up. She dusted off her black stockings and jean shorts. Then, she noticed she had a hole in her dark orange tank top near the bottom. "Aw man."

"Sorry again." Kumiko heard, and finally looked up. She froze a bit when she realized it was Uzumaki Naruto who had fallen on her. He was standing with Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, looking apologetic. She continued to stare at Naruto, until he awkwardly coughed. Kumiko blinked, then shook her head.

"No it's fine." She smiled gently. "You wouldn't believe how many of these I have at home."

"Well now you're one less, but don't worry!" Naruto shouted, jumping around a bit. "When I become Hokage, I'll buy you as many as you need! Believe it!"

All her life, Kumiko has been told to avoid the Uzumaki kid, because he wasn't normal. Her father had told her that there was something wrong with him, but that he wasn't allowed to tell her, as it was prohibited. Kumiko had done a great job at avoiding the kid, or at least talking to him.

It's not like she does 100% though. Whenever needed, she would help him or give him advice, but that rarely ever happened, so they never really conversed. They weren't friends, so she didn't really care for him.

Sakura was an acquaintance of Kumiko's though. They weren't friends but they also weren't strangers. They happened to be neighbors, living next to Sakura's home, so she's known Sakura pretty much her whole life.

Sasuke was just like Naruto, except, their relationship was pretty much non-existent. They've never actually talked to each other, other than when the Uchiha massacre happened, Kumiko told him she was sorry for what happened, and Sasuke blew her off, claiming she had no reason to be sorry as it had nothing to do with her.

"Hokage huh?" Kumiko questioned as she snapped back into reality. This kid sure was dreaming big. She didn't have the heart to tell him that it most likely wasn't going to happen, especially since this kid was a dunce in school. Besides, who was she to shoot down a kid's dream? Especially when he was offering to buy her more shirts when he achieves it.

"That's right!" Naruto shouted, giving her a thumbs up. Kumiko sweat dropped, but patted the boy on the head.

"Alright kid, just keep dreaming that." She said with a smile. "I need to be going now. Bye."

"Bye Kumiko!" Sakura smiled as she waved.

"Bye!" Naruto also waved. Sasuke just remained there, motionless as he watched Kumiko walk away. Once Kumiko was out of sight, Naruto turned to Sakura. "Hey Sakura, what's her name?"

"You idiot!"

Kumiko gigged as she heard Sakura's scream. Sure, that Naruto kid wasn't the brightest bulb in the package, but he sure was funny. The Uchiha kid sure wasn't one that she's going to tangle with anytime soon though. She hadn't heard a single peep from him.

She knew that the three had been assigned as Team 7, with Kakashi-sensei as their teacher. She was really surprised when she heard that the trio passed Kakashi's test, since Gai-sensei told her that he's never passed any team before. Although, Gai told her that the trick to Kakashi's test, was teamwork, so she doubted their skills were even needed to pass, thus explaining how Naruto was able to do it.

It's not that she's purposefully trying to put the kid down, it's just the fact that he's never really put much effort into his work at the academy, and had only passed because he was able to do some shadow clone jutsu instead of the normal clone one.

Sighing once more, Kumiko continued walking home. She didn't really know what to do for the rest of the day. The only reason she was returning home was to make her father lunch. No matter how hard he tried, he could _not_ cook correctly, and refused to eat 'fast food', which only left his eating option of Kumiko's cooking. Thankfully, Kumiko was a good cook, having had lessons from Sakura's mother, who offered to teach her when she taught Sakura.

Of course Kumiko's mother could have taught her, if she was still around. According to her father, her mother had died in child birth, so it's just been the two of them. Kumiko didn't mind though, she still had other females who could help her when she needed it. Other than that though, she mainly got help from either her father or Gai-sensei.

"Wow, you sigh just as much as Shikamaru does." She heard Yamanaka Ino say as she passed a restaurant. Apparently, Ino and her two teammates, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji, had just gotten food there, courtesy of Choji's constant complaints that he was hungry.

"Shut it Ino." Shikamaru spoke as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, hello there Ino." Kumiko greeted with a nod to the young girl. "Shikamaru, Choji."

"Hey/Hi." The two boys said with their own nods.

"I'm just tired. Sorry blondie." Kumiko said as she patted Ino on the head. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"You're a blonde too ya know." Ino pointed out, making Kumiko smile.

"Yeah but I don't let it affect my personality like you do." Shikamaru chuckled as he understood what Kumiko meant. Ino, who didn't understand, gave him a look.

"Shut it Shikamaru!" She snapped.

"Whatever. Geez, this is such a drag. Come on Choji, I think Asuma-sensei wanted to talk to us about something." Shikamaru said as he and Choji said their farewells and left.

Ino was a girl who Kumiko had met quite the amount of years ago. She had been Sakura's friend, and was over Sakura's house often when they were younger, which is how Kumiko met her. Of course, when Sakura broke off their friendship over Sasuke, Kumiko hadn't seen Ino as much, or at least, up until recently.

Ino had been so excited to graduate that she had wanted to tell someone so bad, and since Kumiko was kind of Ino's only girl friend, at least in Ino's eyes, Kumiko had been one of the first that Ino personally told. Said girl then introduced her two teammates to Kumiko.

Ino, in Kumiko's opinion, was a bit of a boss, and focused a bit too much on her long hair, which was much cuter when it was short. That didn't stop Kumiko from enjoying the girl's company every once in a while though. Remembering that Shikamaru and Choji just left, Kumiko turned to the grinning Ino.

"Aren't you going to go with them?" She questioned. Ino's grin slightly dropped as she shrugged.

"I guess. I was hoping to hang with you a bit though, but you're probably heading home to cook for your dad, aren't you? Sorry for stopping you." Ino apologized as she bowed her head. Kumiko frowned, instantly feeling guilty.

"It's okay Ino. We can hang in a couple days if you'd like. I am kind of in a hurry to get home though. I don't want my dad claiming how his daughter's trying to starve him purposely." Kumiko laughed. Ino smiled as Kumiko patted her head. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye!" Ino said as Kumiko left.

Thankful that no one else had stopped her after that, Kumiko arrived home. She unlocked the door, but then paused. She was about 6 minutes late, due to the distraction. Hopefully her father wasn't in one of his moods. Slowly opening the door, she carefully entered. After standing for a couple seconds, and nothing happening, she shrugged and decided to head for the kitchen.

"Sneak attack!"

_Smash!_

Kumiko's eyes widened as she watched the bottle smash next to her had. Instantly, her eyes were burning and her anger soared.

"You asshole! Is there a reason you always try to take off my head when I see you?!"Kumiko shouted as she stormed over to her dad, who was currently trying to blend in with the wall, acting as if he never even threw the bottle in the first place.

"I'm always just trying to make sure you're prepared for a sneak attack!" Her father defended himself, shrinking in terror. Kumiko smacked her hand against her forehead.

Ever since the first day Kumiko came back from the academy, her father's been trying to test her instincts, by throwing stuff at her in greeting. He's gotten her quite the amount of times, leaving Kumiko to wonder how many brain cells she's lost due to his stupidity.

"You've been doing this for like 7 years!" Kumiko complained.

"And I haven't gotten you in 2!"

"Do you know how many bottles you've broken?"

"I don't know. Probably 3 thousand…maybe more."

"Ugh, you're an idiot!"

"Ah, but you love me anyway."

Kumiko sighed in annoyance at her father's antics. Yes, she did love him, but he sure as hell was a pain. Suddenly, Kumiko noticed the black smoke filling their home. There wasn't a lot, but enough for it to be noticeable.

"You tried cooking didn't you?" She deadpanned, noticing tears running down her father's face.

"I had to. You were late and I thought I was going to starve!" He whined. She glared.

"It's only been 8 minutes past noon you dunce!" Kumiko snapped, before going to the kitchen to clean whatever he did.

"Do you not know what could happen in 8 minutes?!" Her father exclaimed. Kumiko started muttering dark words under her breath as she aired out the smoke and turned off the stove of the burnt ramen.

"You! It just had to be _you_ huh? Why couldn't my father be Master Jiraiya, or the Hokage, hell even Gai-sensei could have been my father! But no, I just had to get stuck with you! Someone who can't cook for shit, and enjoys throwing things at their child's head, that could very well kill them!" Kumiko ranted. Her father just stared at her, then winked.

"You know you love me."

"Oh shut up!"

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**First chapter: DONE! Wooo! How was that? I'm so nervous to be posting this since I've been working on it for a while. Anyways, feel free to leave reviews! Any and every single one helps, and feedback is really lovely.**

**Question: Who is your favorite Naruto character?**


	2. Welcome Back Team Gai

About a week had passed since that day, and Neji, Lee, and Gai-sensei had returned from the mission they had been on. Of course, the second they had returned, Kumiko tried getting one of them to train with her. Sadly, they were all tired from their mission. Even Lee, who has so much stamina, decided he was too tired to work with anybody except himself.

Neji had been willing, but she could tell he was tired, so she let him pass. A couple days passed though and they were back to training together. Kumiko was excited, as she had been working on a new technique and wanted to try it out on Lee.

Lee and Kumiko constantly spared, to help with Lee's training. Of course, Lee was way too fast for her to really even get hits in. Kumiko has always been amazed with Lee's speed, even though he has really heavy weights on his legs that are supposed to slow him down.

The way Kumiko helps Neji train is that she either plays hide-and-seek with him, to test his range, or throws weapons, to see his reaction time. Either way, she always enjoys training with them as it's pretty fun and interesting.

They both help her train by being her test subjects.

"Kumiko, what are you doing?" Neji questioned as he noticed her staring up at the sky. She had gotten a bit distracted with the clouds. Blinking a couple times, she glanced at her friend.

"Oh, sorry, I guess the clouds got to me. Don't they look so nice today?" She questioned, dropping onto the ground to stare up at them.

"I must agree, the clouds do look nice today." Lee exclaimed as he too looked up to the sky to look at the clouds.

"That's the way Lee, you watch those clouds!" Gai shouted as he did his nice guy pose. Kumiko sweat dropped at the two.

Gai was like a second father to Kumiko. She cared very deeply for him like a daughter would. When Kumiko had first been put on the team with Gai, she was a bit creeped out because he and Lee were exactly alike, and they weren't even related. Like there is no way two people can act like that, and _not_ be father and son.

Lee was like a brother to Kumiko though. They had been friends a couple years before they were put on a team together. Lee was an amazing taijutsu person, but couldn't do ninjutsu and genjutsu. Kumiko had spent quite the amount of time trying to teach Lee ninjutsu, but he just wasn't able to learn, so she gave up. Lee didn't mind though, it just gave him more of a reason to be amazing at taijutsu. Lee had also spent some time, trying to teach Kumiko taijutsu.

Neji was another person who Kumiko was very close to. They had become friends when Kumiko first entered the academy. Neji had been sitting alone and Kumiko figured it was easier to sit with a loner than try and fit in with people who already had friends. Obviously, Neji had ignored her the first few months. Kumiko didn't like that, so she made it her duty to get Neji to smile at least once that year. So she did the easiest thing she could think of.

She brought cookies. When she offered one to Neji, he refused, saying cookies weren't very healthy. Kumiko, sick and tired of the kid ignoring her, made him turn her way, pinched his nose until he had to breathe, and then forced the cookie into his mouth. Neji, who tried spitting it out, was obviously very angry with her. Kumiko wasn't having it though. She covered his mouth until he eventually swallowed it.

She was really thankful she was able to avoid his hands flinging around, trying to stop and or hit her. The two sat in silence, Kumiko happily chomping on her cookies, and Neji glaring at her. Eventually, Neji stopped his deadly glare, and asked for another cookie.

They've been friends since.

Neji had confided in her about many things, including what had happened to his father, and that he believed it to be because his father wasn't part of the main branch. He told her how he had been branded and how he was alive only to serve the main branch of his clan, meaning his cousin, Hinata. That it was his destiny and he could not change it, no matter what.

Kumiko had also confided many things in him. There was how her mother had died in childbirth, so she always blamed herself. When she told him how she didn't have a clan, and that her father was just a normal person who couldn't survive as a shinobi since he permanently damaged his leg on a mission when Kumiko was young, but of course he did teach Kumiko his jutsu that he learned from his days at the academy.

In the first year that the two had been friends, Kumiko was convinced that she was in love with Neji. Many times she's confessed to him, and of course he's rejected her every time, claiming how they were too young for love and that marriage wasn't in his destiny.

That didn't stop Kumiko though. At least, until they had been put on Team Gai together did Kumiko stop confessing. Since they were supposed to work as a team, she couldn't let her feelings get in the way. Neji, who was surprised at the sudden turn, was grateful, except he couldn't help a nagging in the back of his head.

"Alright now stop watching the clouds and get back to training!" Gai ordered as he whacked Lee in the head. Kumiko sweatdropped as she watched the two of them.

Gai-sensei and Lee sure have one strange bond.

"Eat up kids. This food won't digest itself!" Gai exclaimed as he looked at the food that arrived at their table.

Gai figured that the trio had trained enough today and decided to treat them to dinner. Luckily, Kumiko remembered to put some leftover sushi her and her father had for lunch away, so her father could eat that for dinner.

"No it will not Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted as he began stuffing his face with food. Neji and Kumiko shared looks as they watched the two pig out. Kumiko sighed as she began eating the food she ordered.

This was how it usually was. After a hard day of training, Gai would treat the kids to dinner, Lee and Gai would pig out, and Neji and Kumiko would just watch them while they eat their own food. Kumiko was always amazed that Gai and Lee could keep their bodies so thin, but she figured it must be from them always burning off calories by working out.

"So how was the mission?" Kumiko questioned casually. She found it a bit odd that the requester had asked for only males specifically. It was very rare though. This was the first time the team had gathered just to hang out since the guys had returned.

"Rather odd. Apparently they only wanted males to test make-up on." Gai said, a frown playing on his face. Kumiko snorted at the blush that appeared on Neji's face, and the frown on Lee's.

"Why?" Kumiko asked, genuinely curious. She tried imagining the guys wearing make-up, but whenever she tried, it made her blanch.

"Trying to make male make-up I guess." Gai shrugged.

"And that took an entire week?" Kumiko sure was full of questions, but could you blame her? All the answers were embarrassing the guys, but entertaining her.

"They wanted to see how long it would naturally last." Neji muttered into his drink as he looked interested in it, and disinterested in the conversation. Kumiko giggled at the guys. They'll probably be cautious when assigned missions like that.

"What have you been doing while we were away, Kumiko?" Lee asked as he paused in his food chowing. Kumiko shrugged, rather bored.

"Nothing interesting really. Training, avoiding bottles, avoiding people. The usual." She answered. Neji snorted at the avoiding bottles part. Gai and Lee laughed loudly. Of course they all knew of her dad's habit of testing out her reaction time. She's taken Neji and Lee to her house enough times that even _they_ expect it when they walk in.

The first time they had been to her house, were the funniest things ever. Neji, who wasn't expecting it until it was about three feet away, had shielded Kumiko from it, and it ended up hitting him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious for a couple minutes. Lee, who has amazing reaction time, was able to hit the bottle, which then his her father, knocking _him_ unconscious for a few minutes.

"Your father is slightly nuttier than Gai-sensei." Neji commented, obviously remembering his experience with the bottle. Needless to say, he avoided going to Kumiko's house for a couple weeks. Kumiko raised an eyebrow before looking at Gai, who was complementing Lee on how much he was eating, then looked back to Neji.

"_Really?_ Are you sure?" She questioned, before looking again. "I think they're both equally nutty." Neji smirked before continuing to eat his food.

After they had finished dinner, the four parted ways. Gai told them that he was going to walk Lee home, and Neji decided to walk Kumiko home. Kumiko was insistent that she walk Neji home, since the Hyuuga compound was closer than her apartment, but Neji was insistent himself that he walk her.

The two were enjoying the cold air blowing, since it was night time and the sun was down. Kumiko rubbed her arms, the sound of her vest making noises as it was shuffled around a little. Thankfully, like Kiba promised, he had cleaned and returned her vest to her the next day.

"Are you cold?" Neji asked as he noticed Kumiko rubbing her arms to warm up. Kumiko blushed lightly at the thought of Neji giving her his jacket, but then it faded when she remembered he wasn't wearing one himself.

"Yeah, but I'm okay. My apartment's not that far from here." She chuckled. Neji shrugged and continued walking. Kumiko sweatdropped at her failed attempt to get physically close to Neji. She kind of expected him to at least put his arm around her. Although who was she kidding? They're only friends. Not like she expected him to grow feelings for her within a couple minutes.

A girl can dream though!

She hummed lightly, then smirked. "Anyways, were you a pretty test subject?" She teased as she peered closely at Neji's face, trying to imagine him wearing make-up. Neji blushed bright red at the memory. Of course Kumiko would bring something like that up when he was trying to be nice by walking her home!

"Can you not? That was probably the most embarrassing thing in my entire life." Neji told her. Kumiko giggled.

"Were you or were you not, pretty?" Kumiko repeated, genuinely curious now. Not once in her life has she ever seen Neji wear make-up, and she kind of hoped she never would. Personally, she thinks Neji would look a bit weird wearing some. Kumiko wore make-up of course. Not a lot of it though, only some eyeliner and sometimes a bit of eye shadow. Other than that, nope.

"I don't know. I was too embarrassed to rate myself on a scale." Neji deadpanned, his veins popping out like how it would when he uses byakugan. Kumiko raised her hands in a defensive way, but still giggled.

"Don't be that way. I'll bet you were the prettiest there." Kumiko joked, then smirked. "After Lee of course." Neji's eyes narrowed.

"Really? You really think Lee was better looking?" He asked seriously. Kumiko shrugged and smiled.

"Maybe. I wouldn't know though, since I wasn't allowed to go and Gai-sensei didn't take pictures." Kumiko said. Neji rolled his eyes. This girl was pretty embarrassing when she wanted to be.

"We're here." Neji said as they finally reached her apartment. Kumiko nodded and turned to look at Neji, a smile beaming on her face.

"Would you like to come in? I don't think my dad would mind, since he enjoys your company." She asked. Neji glanced up at the apartment, contemplating it. It wasn't really that late, probably only 9. There's a small part of him that would still like to hang out with Kumiko, but there was another part of him that didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Especially didn't want _Kumiko_ to get the wrong idea.

Neji then froze. "I think I'll have to pass. Your father is shooting me glares through the window." Kumiko also froze, and slowly turned to look towards the window, noticing that her father was, indeed, staring them down and giving Neji the stink eye. She sweatdropped and turned to Neji, a nervous smile playing.

"Yeah, sorry about him. He's always weird when I bring a guy home. He probably doesn't realize it's you, since we're kind of sideways and a good distance from the window." Kumiko laughed. Neji frowned a bit at Kumiko's words. Just how many guys besides him and Lee has she brought here? And why?

"Anyways, I should be going now." Neji said, shaking the feeling away. He put his hand on Kumiko's head and patted her gently.

"Yeah, thanks for walking me home Neji. See you tomorrow!" Kumiko told him, waving as she headed inside her apartment.

"Sneak attack!"

Kumiko caught the bottle this time, absolutely tired from the day. "Not today old man."

"Old man?" Her father exclaimed, looking absolutely horrified. "I'm not even old! I'm only like 35!" He then moved closely to her face. "Who was that boy you were talking to?! Was it your _boyfriend_?" Kumiko snorted at her father's antics.

"It was Neji you dung for brains." She answered. Her father paused, then made an 'o' shape, then he smiled.

"Oh, well why didn't he come in and say hi?" He questioned. She gave him an exasperated look.

"Because you were glaring at him through the window!"

"I didn't know it was him!"

"Go to sleep you old coot."

"Is it normal for a teenage girl to talk like this to her dad?"

"Hell if I know."

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**And there is chapter 2! So, I was originally going to post this tomorrow, but I kind of got excited and decided to post it now. I'm so excited though, I got a couple of reviews and a few follows! Plus, the author of _Butterfly Child_, which I mentioned in the first chapter, followed this, so it made me even more happy! Anyways, this chapter was kind of short, but don't worry, as the story progresses, the chapters will get longer. **

**Question: Which team is your favorite? (Mine is obviously Team Gai :3)**


	3. New Mission

Another couple days had passed, and Kumiko was woken up by loud banging on her front door. Thankfully, her father was at work so he wouldn't be there to get angry at whatever idiot it was who thought it was okay to bang on her door. The banging was continuous until Kumiko swung the door open, anger etched all over her face.

"What the hell are you doing Gai-sensei?" Kumiko snapped, annoyed at not only being woken up, but being forced to get up from the loud banging wasn't making it any better. The fact that it was her sensei, made it even worse. Usually his visits resulted in them being called onto a mission.

"Morning Kumiko. We have a mission today." Gai said, doing his nice guy pose, and his teeth doing a little sparkle. She noticed an eager Lee and stoic Neji behind their sensei. Yup, it's a mission. Sighing, she opened her door all the way.

"Come on in. I'll start the tea."

After Kumiko made the guys tea, and had gotten dressed, the team headed down to the gates. According to Gai, the mission was an escort C-rank. They were just supposed to escort someone safely back to the Land of Snow. It's supposed to be a really simple one, _just_ an escort, since the person just has a bit of money on him and is paranoid of getting robbed.

Since it was still pretty warm out, and it'd be a bit odd walking around in snow clothes, Kumiko was taking a big bag filled with warm clothes for everyone. Really though, it was just pants and coats for all of them. Gai and Lee most likely weren't going to use them though, claiming how their body movements will keep them warm.

She didn't care though, better safe than sorry.

"Geez, the Land of Snow is so far away." Kumiko complained as they were walking to the gates. "It's gonna take us around a week and a half to finish the mission and return." Just for an escort too? Did he seriously come by himself when he arrived at Konoha?

"On the bright side, we're getting paid a huge sum of money for it." Neji pointed out the only pro to the mission. But, Kumiko could list way more cons.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand.

"Do not be like that Kumiko! The youthful journey has yet to begin!" Lee said as he jumped around a bit. Kumiko bit her lip and patted Lee on the head. This boy is so rambunctious and hyperactive.

"You're adorable Lee." She muttered. Lee smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

When they reached the gates, Kumiko noticed someone standing and waiting there. He wasn't a very old man, probably in his late 40's if she had to guess. He was tall, slightly chubby, had dark brown hair, and brown eyes. He also had a mustache mixed in with his beard. There were some silver framed glasses sitting on the tip of his nose. He pushed them up when he noticed the group heading his way.

"So sorry for the wait. Had to get this one." Gai said as he kicked Kumiko in the butt, making the young girl fall forward.

"Ow! Gai-sensei you better keep your feet to yourself!" Kumiko exclaimed as she rubbed her butt in pain. The old man stared at them with slightly wide eyes. _This_ is the group that was supposed to guard him? Yeah right!

The smaller black haired bowl cut boy looked like an exact replica of the taller one, and was looking at the taller one in complete awe. The boy…or girl with pale eyes was staring him down with a stoic look, and the 'clearly was a girl' one was glaring at her sensei while muttering rude words.

Yup, he was definitely not going to make it home in one piece.

A few minutes after the introductions, Kumiko learned the man's name was Matsumoto Matsuda. He came to Konohagakure to talk business. She didn't remember all the details, since she kind of zoned out. Although, she didn't really care. It was just an escorting. Not like she needed to know the guys life story.

"Kumiko, the quicker you move, the quicker we can return back home." Neji spoke, noticing that said girl was walking pretty slowly. Kumiko snorted.

"It's not that I want to go home quicker, I'm just dreading the cold." She told him, as she finally sped up a bit to be able to walk next to him.

The two were walking behind Matsuda, while Lee and Gai were in front, chatting about youth or something like that. Matsuda seemed pretty interested in their conversation as he kept looking between the two. Or maybe he was just amazed at how alike they were.

"Oh yes, we've only been there twice, so we're not really used to cold weather." Neji said, although it seemed like he was talking to himself. Kumiko nodded anyways. The group was about three hours worth away from the Leaf Village. Thankfully, there was still around 6 hours of daylight left, so they decided to take a break.

"Gai-sensei, where's the food?" Kumiko questioned as she noticed Gai just standing around with a grin. He laughed heartedly.

"I didn't bring any! I figured it'd be fun to find our own!" He shouted. Kumiko sweat-dropped. Of course he would. Is there a reason she thinks this is a sensible man?

"Gai-sensei is correct! That would be quite fun!" Lee also began to shout, then pointed at Neji. "Come on Neji, let us have a challenge to see who can find food first!" Neji raised an eyebrow, and looked like he was about to refuse. "Go!" With that, the young boy ran off.

"How does that kid have so much energy?" Matsuda questioned, looking genuinely awed. Neji began walking away, going to search for food. He wasn't taking part in the competition, but if he was the first to find food, it's not like he wasn't going to accept the praise.

"Why he takes after me of course!" Gai said, then did his nice guy pose. Matsuda turned to him.

"So he really _is_ your son?" He asked. Kumiko snorted at the downfallen look on Gai's face.

"No, but they do have a father-son bond." She answered for him. "They're both very weird." Matsuda couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Of course, being the resourceful person he is, and using the byakugan, Neji returned first with some red apples. Kumiko, who had stayed with the adults, because she was too lazy to search for food, gratefully accepted three of them. Matsuda took two, and Gai refused them, saying that he'll eat the food Lee brings back.

He wasn't trying to be mean to Neji, though it may have seemed that way. He was just meaning that Lee was likely to bring a good amount of food back, and would feel bad since the others would be full from the apples. Kumiko smiled at the thoughtfulness, and stuck the extra apples in her bag with the clothes and her doll. Neji shrugged and started a conversation with Kumiko about the cold.

Eventually Lee came back with some boysenberries. Of course, as promised, Gai ate a majority of them with Lee after the others refused, still full on apples. Kumiko felt a bit bad as Lee stared at her with puppy eyes though, so she ate one too. Neji ignored the boy as Lee started shouting about how he wouldn't lose to Neji again.

After a few minutes, of them taking a break, they were finally ready to go again.

Night eventually came, and the group was already 1/5th of the way there. They decided to stop for the night and set up camp. The group had brought two tents. Neji, Matsuda, and Kumiko were to share one, while Lee and Gai were to share another.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for all of the kids to share a tent?" Matsuda asked, confused at the sleeping arrangements. Kumiko snorted as she shook her head.

"Lee and Gai-sensei both sleep train. You'll thank us in the morning." She told him then chuckled. "Besides, Gai-sensei enjoys sleeping outside more than inside."

It's true, the first few times Kumiko, Neji, and Lee shared a tent, everything was perfectly fine, and then when Lee and Gai began training harder, Gai had taught Lee how to train in his sleep. Many times after that, Kumiko would wake up with a couple bruises and half way on Neji's sleeping side, since she slept in the middle of the two.

When that began happening, Lee and Gai began to share tents while Neji and Kumiko did. Now I know what you're thinking. A teenage boy and teenage girl sharing a tent together? The ideas they could get!

Of course that stuff would never happen, what with Neji not liking Kumiko like that, and Kumiko letting her feelings for Neji simmer down enough so they could work together and her feelings not get in the way...also Gai-sensei would check in on them every hour until they fell asleep.

Of course the trio would still share a tent when they went on missions without Gai. Those were rare though, since Gai and Lee can't really stand training without each other very long. Matsuda nodded, but still had a confused look on his face.

"Wait, why do you even use tents? I thought shinobi slept outside during missions." He pointed out. Kumiko blushed lightly as she gave an awkward laugh. Neji rolled his eyes at the memory of why they had to start using tents a while back.

"Oh, well you see," Kumiko started. "The first time we were assigned an over-night mission, I was perfectly okay with sleeping outside. But, when I woke up in the morning, I felt something crawling around in my hair..." She trailed off, shivering a bit as she remembered.

"A bunch of caterpillars made a home in her hair during the middle of the night." Neji finished, noticing that Kumiko paused. Said girl began shivering as she thought of the creepy bugs crawling around her when she was sleeping. They could have laid eggs in her hair and she wouldn't have found out until they hatched. Gross!

"It was so disgusting!" Kumiko whined as tears ran down her face at the memory. "I screamed so loudly that I almost ripped my vocal cords." Matsuda couldn't help but give her a weird look at the exaggeration.

"That actually is rather terrifying to think of."

"Thank you!"

It turns out the trip to the Land of Snow was a very quick one. They said their farewells to Matsuda and began heading back home. Kumiko was so grateful, she was getting very sick of the snow quickly. Just like she predicted, her and Neji needed the clothes she packed. And also predicted, Lee and Gai-sensei rejected them, claiming their movements were keeping them warm.

"Thank goodness we're going back home!" Kumiko exclaimed gratefully, crossing her arms behind her head, hoping to block the wind from blowing on her ears.

"I must agree, it would be nice to finally go back home." Lee said with a smile. Kumiko smiled as she walked beside Neji, who was quiet.

The group was soon two days away from home, and it was warm enough for them to put the coats away. The three teens were walking side by side, Kumiko in the middle, and Gai was walking a bit behind them, going on about the youth. Suddenly though, Neji stuck his arm out in front of Kumiko, who instinctly did the same to Lee.

"There's someone watching us." Neji muttered as he glanced around. Kumiko didn't even hesitate to grab a couple of her shuriken and held them cautiously. Gai, who heard Neji, walked closer to the group and also looked around. "Byakugan!" Neji said and looked around, and his eyes focused on a certain spot in a tree. He nudged Kumiko and she noticed where his eyes were looking, and then threw her shuriken. They stuck in a nearby tree, apparently having missed the intended target.

"Nice try little girl." Kumiko heard a raspy kind of voice say from behind her. She froze, but then jumped away. The group dispersed to look at the person who had suddenly appeared behind them.

It was a middle aged looking man, who had a sword of sorts in his hand. He wasn't wearing a headband, and seemed to be pretty average looking. Kumiko sweat-dropped. This guy didn't even look like a challenge but was trying to fight four shinobi? Obviously he wasn't taught correctly while growing up. The only thing he had going for him so far was his speed.

"Who are you?" Gai questioned, leering at the guy. The guy shrugged.

"No need for you to know. It's not like you'll be around much longer." He answered. Neji snorted and Kumiko rolled her eyes. This guy sure was full of himself.

"I got this." Kumiko muttered, taking her doll out of her bag inconspicuously, along with one of her kunai's. She smirked as she ran to the guy, holding her kunai up, trying to stab the guy. He dodged it though, and her kunai fell, along with her doll. The man, surprised by the doll, picked it up, and laughed.

"Really? A ninja from the Leaf Village carries around a dolly? How interesting." He said jovially. The doll wasn't anything special. It was just a basic looking human kind of doll. It didn't have any details, no hair, clothes, and the features were meaningless.

Kumiko gave a noise of distress. "Hey, do not make fun of her!" Lee shouted, but did nothing to stop it. He knew this was Kumiko's plan. He was just trying to be helpful. Neji rolled his eyes while Gai stared at the man. Hey, his students have this, so need for some interference.

"Just give it back to me!" Kumiko demanded, holding her hand out. The man raised his eyebrow.

"Why should I? Maybe I'll keep it." He laughed again. Kumiko pursed her lips.

"Yes, because some man carrying around a dolly himself sure is manly, huh?" She snapped. The man, paused to consider this, and then tossed the doll to Kumiko, who caught it. Gripping it tightly, she smirked and got down on the floor, making the doll sit beside her. Oddly, the man sat too when the doll did.

"What the…" He muttered as he realized what just happened. Kumiko giggled, a little bit of a sadistic side coming out of her.

"Okay, so what do you guys want to see him do?" She asked. Neji shrugged while Lee jumped around.

"I want to train with him! Let us see how good you've gotten at fighting with the doll, Kumiko!" Lee exclaimed as he ran over to the man. Kumiko snorted, of course he'd want that.

"I don't care as long as you make it quick." Neji replied as he sat down next to her. Gai leaned against a tree, checking around to see if there were any more idiots who thought it'd be smart to try and jump a group of ninja.

"Alright, then let's do this." She said. Immediately, she made the doll lift its leg up in Lee's direction, and the man's leg did it too. Lee easily blocked it.

"Come on Kumiko, do not go easy on me and my youthfulness!" Lee shouted as he jumped around a bit. Kumiko sweat-dropped and tried making the doll move quicker. In all honestly, even though she's been working with this jutsu for a year, she's not that good at it yet. The most she's mastered is learning the rules of it and getting people to fall for it. Of course, there were some people not stupid enough to pick up the doll and give it to her, so it wasn't perfect.

It's called Ninja Voodoo Jutsu. It's like using a voodoo doll to make people do whatever she wants. The rules to it are that the person she's using it on has to willingly give her the doll, and the second the doll leaves her hand, it wears off. Also, she needs to have the doll on a flat surface for it to work correctly. Her dad taught it to her when she graduated the academy because it's one he used when _he_ was a genin. He promised to teach her another part of it when she becomes a chunin.

Personally, Kumiko found it to be a bit of a hassle, since it was mainly used for defense and the only offense she had was her weapons and the very little taijutsu she knew. It's not exactly her first choice for a jutsu, but it's the closest to a family one she was going to get.

For a good ten minutes, Lee and the man spared, until Lee kicked the guy in the head, knocking him a good few yards away, and unconscious. Neji sighed as he got up and helped Kumiko up too, after she dropped the doll of course so that the effects would wear off.

"Thanks Neji." Kumiko mumbled as she stared down at her doll. Maybe she should focus on weapons more than the Voodoo jutsu, as she wants to be more of an offensive person.

"Let's go home kids." Gai said as he patted Kumiko on the head, who nodded and put her doll away.

* * *

**There's chapter 3 for you guys! I would like to thank those who have reviewed/favorite/followed, so grateful for it! So, instead of only questions, I'm also going to start adding fun facts because well, I enjoy learning more about stories than is let on in the normal writing.**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's name was originally going to be Gisei, but I didn't really like it, so I changed it to Yue, and then didn't like that, and finally settled on Kumiko. In honor of the original name, I decided to make it her father's name.**

**Question: What is your favorite jutsu? (**mine is actually the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but it's mainly because I'm a very lazy person, so it'd be a lot more helpful if there was more of me to help myself out. Although, it'd suck if they were all lazy too...**)**


	4. Chunin Exams?

It was now a week before July. Neji, Lee, and Kumiko were out in the forest training, like usual. Kumiko was testing out her kunai throwing, deciding that she needed a bit more practice. Lee was doing his taijutsu training, and Neji was working on his byakugan.

"Hey kids, y'all training?" Gai asked them as he appeared out of nowhere. Kumiko, a bit startled by the sudden presence, accidentily threw one of her kunai towards him. Thankfully, Gai was able to dodge it in time.

"Gai-sensei! Don't do stuff like that!" Kumiko said sternly as she went to go pick up her kunai. Gai didn't care though, as he grinned at his students.

"Guess what my young students! The chunin exams are coming up, and I have recommended all of you!" He exclaimed as he did his nice guy pose. Kumiko, in surprise, ended up dropping her kunai, before hastily picking it back up.

"Really, Gai-sensei? That is wonderful!" Lee shouted as he jumped around a bit. Kumiko shrugged a bit in distaste. So they were back again? Guess they're doing it this year. They had refused to do it last year so that they could work on their skills, but it was rather inevitable that they were going to participate this year.

"Yes, now here are the application forms." Gai said as he shoved the applications towards Kumiko, who once again in surprise at the sudden movement, dropped her kunai in order to grab hold of the papers. An anger tick appeared on her head as she shifted the papers and bent over to pick her kunai, once again, back up.

"If you don't quit making me drop this, I'm going to stab you with it." She threatened, pointing the kunai at her sensei.

"Well quit having such butter fingers." Gai laughed. Seeing Kumiko turn even angrier, he backed away a couple feet. "Well I must be going now. See you later kids! Also, it's room 301 at the academy that you're supposed to be meeting in, at 3 p.m., five days from now!" He quickly ran off, making Neji and Kumiko sweat-drop.

Kumiko handed Neji and Lee the application forms before staring down at the one in her hand. Personally, she didn't think she was strong enough to be a chunin yet, but Neji and Lee definitely were. She would feel so terrible if she made them take the exams by themselves. Plus, she's heard from others who have taken the exam that it requires the three people team. They just don't tell you so as not to pressure.

Rolling her eyes, Kumiko tucked the paper away in her bag. She'll just sign it later.

**#$%#$%#%$#%#**

Kumiko was sitting at a restaurant with her father for lunch. She had managed to convince him to allow her to treat him to lunch. Currently, the two were fighting over the last piece of meat.

"I'm the one paying, so _I_ get it!" Kumiko snapped as she tried to get it with her chopsticks. Her father wasn't having any of it though, as he too grabbed it with his chopsticks.

"_I'm_ the oldest and helped bring you to life! _I_ get it!" Her father challenged. Kumiko snorted giving the old man a dirty look. Her father can be such a kid at times!

"Exactly, you're the oldest, which means you're done growing. I need my protein!" She exclaimed. The two were so busy with their argument, that they didn't notice the group of three rookies heading over, until one of them had put his mouth near their chopsticks, and ate the last piece of meat.

"Choji!" Kumiko shouted, horrified at what he did. Choji, who was enjoying the piece of meat, said nothing as he stood there happily chewing away.

"Choji you idiot! That was Kumiko's!" Ino snapped as her head grew a bit and she gave him a look.

"Yeesh, what a drag." Shikamaru muttered, giving Choji an exasperated look. "Choji, you can't eat other people's food without their permission."

"Sorry Kumiko." Choji finally apologized, but was grinning, so Kumiko couldn't take him seriously. He didn't look ashamed at all. If anything, he seemed rather proud of himself. "It's just that it was the last piece, and the last piece of anything is always the best." Kumiko sighed in defeat before waving it away. It's not like he could just give it back to her. Besides, she wouldn't want it anyways if he _was_ able to.

"Whatever, doesn't matter anymore." She mumbled, but then turned to her dad, who had tears running down his face, most likely from not getting the last piece of meat. "Quit being a child." Her dad turned to her.

"But Kumiko…" He said in a voice filled with despair. Kumiko rolled her eyes and shoved money in his direction.

"Go pay for the food." She ordered, shoving it towards him. He sighed and left the table, allowing the three rookies to sit, but was able to spare Choji a dirty look. Said boy was still smiling, making Kumiko roll her eyes. "So, you kids here for lunch?" Ino nodded, and then grinned.

"Yeah, but also, I saw you in the window and wanted to tell you the good news!" She said as she bounced a little. Kumiko raised an eyebrow, and Ino didn't even wait for her to ask what it was. "We're going to be taking the chunin exams!" Kumiko's eyes widened, but then decreased when she smiled gently at them. They're taking the exams? First year rookies? Wow, that's pretty rare. The last time that's happened was a long time ago.

"That's cool. My team is taking it this year too." She told them, deciding there was no harm in letting them know.

"Awesome! So that means we're going to be rivals!" Ino declared, jumping up and pointing at Kumiko, who sweat-dropped at the younger girl.

"Well, technically yes, but I thought Sakura was your rival already?" She asked, making sure that Ino knew she wasn't interested. Kumiko didn't really want a rival. It was a bit too much work, always trying to best someone else. Ino paused, then shrugged, sitting back down.

"Well she's my love rival if that's what you mean." She answered, making Kumiko fall. This girl sure was a weird one. Kumiko's father returned to the table.

"Anyways than, good luck in the exams Ino, Shikamaru, Choji." She told them as she stood up and waved her good-byes.

"Bye Kumiko!" Ino said excitedly as she waved. Shikamaru gave a lazy wave, and Choji was a bit too preoccupied deciding on what to get. Her father was staring the larger boy child down.

"I'm watching you, Porkers." He deadpanned. Choji immediately looked at Kumiko's father, and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you call me?" Choji dared to ask him. Kumiko's father didn't back down.

"You heard me-"

"We're going now!" Kumiko shouted, grabbing her father and dragging him out of the restaurant, genuinely afraid of what would happen.

"Those kids are weird." Her father said, then glared. "Especially the fat one. He stole my last piece of meat." Kumiko sighed and gave him a look, before looking around quickly, slightly expecting someone to jump out at her.

"It was _my_ last piece, and don't call Choji fat. He's just pudgy." She said, knowing that Choji hated being called fat, and could pop up out of nowhere, screaming how he's not fat. It's like he had a sixth sense for whenever someone called him it. "Besides! You need to quit acting like a kid! The boy's twelve and you almost started a cat fight over meat!"

"Whatever. I'm going back home. You're training with Lee and Neji again right?" He asked. Kumiko nodded and said her farewells to her father, before going their separate ways.

**#$%#$#%#$%#$%#**

The training ground isn't very far away from the busy village thankfully. The only bad part is, that walking around the village, led to running into people you didn't exactly have time to talk to. People you respected, but seriously didn't have time for.

"Ah, Kumiko, how are you, dear?" A soft voice questioned her as she tried backpedaling her footsteps, hoping she wouldn't have been spotted. But she was, so she failed. Kumiko put on her best smile as she turned to look at the person who stopped her.

"Hokage-sama!" Kumiko said. The Hokage was giving the young girl a soft smile. "I'm fine, how are you?" He chuckled at her answer.

"Just fine also." He told her. "Out for a walk. It's nice to get these old bones moving every once in a while." He stretched his arms out to show what he meant.

Kumiko has known the Hokage all her life. He had taken quite the fondness to her for as long as she can remember. When Kumiko questioned him about it, he would tell her that she reminded of someone he'd known a while back. Kumiko didn't really care though. She was just interested in the fact that he was interested in her. After all, she's quite boring after a while.

"How's your father doing?" The Hokage continued. Kumiko paused for a second, then smiled awkwardly and waved her hand.

"Oh you know, the usual. Threatening kids, being a wimp, same old same old." The Hokage gave a hearty laugh.

"Ah, seems like Gisei never changes." He muttered, then patted Kumiko on the head. "Where were you headed to in such a hurry?" The young girl sweat-dropped. He knew she was in a hurry and decided to stop her? _Rude_.

"Out to train with Neji and Lee," She answered, then frowned. "Gai-sensei said he recommended us for the upcoming chunin exams. So, you know, we need to get as much practice in as possible." Sarutobi nodded as he heard her speaking.

"Ah, yes, your team is one among many," He spoke. Kumiko felt her ears perk up. Maybe he was about to give some inspirational words. After all, he's an old man. If they don't give you words of wisdom in your time of need, what good were they for?! "I wish you the best of luck."

She dropped onto the floor.

"Thanks for the good wishes." She muttered, struggling to get back up. "Useless words of wisdom." The Hokage chuckled as he heard her.

"I must be going now. Please give your father my best wishes too." He said as he nodded to Kumiko, who nodded back.

"Of course."

**#$%#%$#%$#$%#$%**

When she reached the training ground, Lee and Neji were already there, practicing. Kumiko sighed as she got her kunai and shuriken out. Since they were her main offense use, she needed to get as much practice as she could with them. With that, she began throwing them at a target. Although, for some reason, she kept missing.

Getting frustrated, she stomped her foot on the ground. She must just be nervous about the chunin exams, that's why she can't throw correctly. She noticed that Lee and Neji took a break from their training to watch her.

"Can you guys help me?" She quietly asked. The two raised an eyebrow each.

"With what? Your throwing, or your aim?" Neji questioned. Kumiko glared slightly at him, hearing a tone of teasing in his voice.

"My aim is just a bit off because I'm nervous." She muttered, trying to not feel like a loser. "I just need Lee to grab the weapons for me and toss them back, so that it's quicker for me." Lee nodded, and walked beside the tree that Kumiko was throwing her kunai at.

"Well how am I able to help?" Neji asked, not liking being left out like that. She stared at him with pursed lips, then grinned.

"You can sit down in front of the tree than, and correct me when I do something wrong." She said. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I have to sit in front of the tree?" He questioned, but did it nonetheless.

"Motivation not to miss."

Kumiko had practiced until it was almost dark out. Lee and Neji had been there to help her the whole time. Once the guys began to help, Kumiko was getting a lot better, and could throw directly at the circle now. She was getting pretty good at it too. Guess all she needed was a little of a confidence boost to get her going.

She had just thrown three at once and they all hit the target. Lee put his hand on the target so he could take one off to give back to Kumiko, and decided to start a conversation.

"Did you hear, we are supposed to have rookies at the exam?" Lee half asked and half said. "First year genin. That has not happened in five years."

"Yeah, I heard from some of the genin themselves." Kumiko stated. "As far as I know though, it's only one team. Some jounin probably made a majority up to boost their egos though." She twirled her kunai around a bit as Lee leaned against the tree.

"No, there is more to the story than that." Lee spoke. "Three of them are from Kakashi's squad." Kumiko's eyes widened a bit. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were taking the exam? No wonder Lee knew about them, Gai-sensei was probably talking about it during lunch, since Lee and Gai rarely spent time apart.

"Huh, interesting." Neji said.

"But not very." Kumiko muttered, before throwing her kunai at the target, getting it right in the bulls-eye.

"Either way it's too bad for them." Neji smiled, and Kumiko let out her own little smirk.

"They don't stand a chance."

* * *

**And there is chapter 4! I deeply apologize that it is so short. Mainly because I had written it out, and didn't even realize how shortly I was writing it. I went through and tried adding things but, most of the time, it just ended up being a bit oddly written. But on the bright side, this is the last short chapter, because the next chapter starts the cannon crap! Also, I don't exactly know if many people really like this story, since it doesn't seem to have many reviews or alerts/follows. I'm not exactly asking for people to do those things, it's just I'm genuinely curious. **

**Fun Fact: I didn't really want Kumiko to use weapons as much as she does, but I figured that since her Voodoo jutsu was kind of useless (for now, because well, everyone needs to start small), I needed to give her something that could help. This is also a bit of Tenten put into her, just because, Tenten's one of my favorite characters (Even though she's rarely seen)**

**Question: Which village is your favorite?** **(**Mine is Konoha because it's just so nice looking and the forest...I love forest**)**


	5. Starting the Chunin Exams

The Chunin Exams were ready to begin. Kumiko had said her farewells to her father, who began to cry, blubbering about how his little girl grew up too fast, and after she pummeled him to the floor, was on her merry way. She had met up with Neji and Lee at their halfway point to the academy. Lee was quite pumped and excited, while Neji and Kumiko kept their cool.

Of course, while cool on the outside, Kumiko was freaking out on the in. Yes, they've never participated in the exams, so it was a new experience, but also pretty dangerous. She's heard many stories of people being killed during them. Hopefully none of them would die. That'd be rather disappointing...

When they reached the academy, Kumiko noticed that there was already a good amount of people surrounding the 301 room. Some people trying to pass through the door, but two young guys, maybe a bit older than them, were blocking the path. The trio walked up to them, and Kumiko tried being nice about it.

"Excuse me, let us through." She politely said. One of the guys, glared at her. Wow, hostile much?

"No." He deadpanned. Kumiko raised an eyebrow and then an anger tick appeared. Who did he think he was?!

"Fine, I don't need your permission anyways!" She snapped as she tried shoving her way through, but one of the guys, the one who denied her entry, shoved her back, making her land on her butt. "Ow!" Neji quickly helped her up, and Lee turned to the two guys.

"Pushing a lady on her butt is not a very gentlemanly thing to do!" He said, his owlish eyes wide, as he too, then tried getting through, only to also be pushed down. Kumiko gasped and bent down to help him.

"Oh Lee." She murmured, then turned to look at the two guys who were grinning.

"You're taking the Chunin Exams, but you can't even get past us?" The one who pushed Lee asked. Kumiko glared at him. Looks like the plan was slightly working. They were only acting weak so that they wouldn't become anyone's targets during the exams.

It had been Lee's idea. Kumiko thought that they should just show off their power, hopefully to deflate others from even _thinking_ they could defeat them. Neji shot it down though, claiming that they should always have enough strength to be able to get out of sticky situations, just in case people actually are dumb enough to try and attack them.

"Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt?" The one who pushed Kumiko said.

"Yeah, I think I hear your mommy calling ya." Lee-pusher said, then laughed as if he said something funny. Kumiko bit her lip and tried again.

"Please let us through, we're supposed to go in there." She gently said. They _were_ supposed to be in there, but these two goons were blocking the way.

Is that even allowed? Surly one of the sensei's or chunin proctors will come out and check what was going on, right? She stood up and tried going in again. Although, this time, the one who pushed her earlier, punched her in the nose. Neji caught her in time before she could hit the ground. _That asshole! Who did he think he was?!_ Kumiko clutched her nose, hissing when Neji tried pulling her hand away from it so he could check it. She glared at the boy, who glared back. She knew he was blaming her slightly for her stupidity.

To say Neji and Lee were pissed though, would be an understatement. One of the bystanders commented that what the guy did was harsh.

"Did you say harsh? Don't kid yourself, we're being nice in comparison. The exams are going to make _this_ look like a picnic." Lee-pusher said. Kumiko felt a bit nauseous as she realized he was right.

"Some of you won't survive the exam and others will be wrecked for life. Some of you may even go crazy. For a chunin it's always life or death." Kumiko-puncher spoke.

"You think it's a joke, chunin are qualified to _lead_ missions." Lee-pusher told them. Kumiko glared at them, and then saw Team Kakashi walking in. "The lives of your squad members are on the line so you better be tough enough to take the heat."

"Delicate little girls, don't belong here." Kumiko-puncher said as he stared directly at her, making her scowl. "We're just thinning out the herd so go home and play with your dolls." Kumiko's eyes widened a fraction. Dolls? Did he know what jutsu she used? She noticed Sasuke step up.

"Real nice speech." He said monotonously. Kumiko's eyes widened even more. It was the first time she's heard him talk in the longest. "Now both of you step aside and let me though." Kumiko shivered at the way Sasuke spoke. He was so demanding. "And while you're at it, reverse the genjutsu, we can see through your illusion anyway."

Genjutsu? They had genjutsu activated? Where?

"We're going to the third floor."

"What does he mean, we're on the third floor." Some guy in the background said.

"I know." Another spoke.

"Well well,"

"So you noticed the genjutsu huh?" The two buffoons spoke. Sasuke looked at Sakura from the side.

"Go ahead and tell them Sakura. I'm sure you saw it before anyone else did." Sasuke said to her.

"Huh?" Sakura asked completely off guard.

"You have the sharpest eye and best analytical skills on our team. You must have seen this coming a mile away." Sasuke said. Kumiko sweat-dropped. No, Sakura didn't. Sasuke must be trying to play the people surrounding as fools, but Kumiko wasn't fooled since she had grown up with Sakura, and knew the young girl.

"I must have?" Sakura questioned, still not getting the gist of it, but then she smiled. "Well sure, of course. Sure I spotted it right away. This is only the second floor."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed as he too nodded. Liar! You don't ever notice anything! Apparently the genjutsu had worn off as the 301, now became 201. Kumiko blushed lightly at the thought of being tricked so easily like that. She honestly had no idea. Lee-pusher chuckled.

"Huh, well aren't we the smart ones. So you noticed an illusion." He spoke, but then his face turned serious. "Let's see you deal with this!" He went in and tried to kick Sasuke, and Sasuke acting off instincts, was ready to also kick.

Lee, acting off _his_ own instincts, quickly rushed in and stopped them. Kumiko could see the questioning looks on people's faces, making her sweat-drop. Really Lee? You just _had_ to go and do that. Lee pushed the two boys' legs away. She could see the incredulous look on Sasuke, as he tried comprehending what just happened.

"Hey, what happened to the plan?" Neji asked annoyed as he and Kumiko walked closer to Lee, both to glare at him. "I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and not let anyone see our skill level."

"I know but," Lee started off hesitantly, then turned to Sasuke, but his eyes caught something else. Kumiko sighed and bent her head forward a bit.

"Never mind it's over. Forget it." She said, knowing that the plan had failed and that they were going to be targeted by strong people now. She glanced up, and noticed Lee blushing slightly and staring openly at Sakura. What the…? Lee began walking towards the pink haired girl. Kumiko's mouth dropped open as she realized what was about to happen.

"My name is Rock Lee." He introduced himself to her. Kumiko had to put her fist in her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Lee was trying to use his 'cool guy' voice. "You are Sakura, right?"

"Huh?" Sakura said. Kumiko turned her head a bit into Neji's shoulder to hide her face, but was still able to watch as Lee winked and gave Sakura a thumbs up.

"Please be my girlfriend!" He said. "I vow to protect you with my life!" Then his teeth did the twinkle that Gai-sensei's did. How on earth did those two learn that?! Was it a special toothpaste? Kumiko began to giggle at Sakura's face.

"Definitely…not." Sakura said. Kumiko then laughed loudly at the look on Lee's face. Okay, maybe that made her a bad friend, but it was definitely the best thing that's happened all day.

"Why?" He meekly asked.

Kumiko wasn't very used to Lee doing this, seeing as how he's only done it twice, this being his third. The first time she saw him do it, was to her, of course. The second was to another girl in their year named Tenten, and Sakura's the third. She just found it funny that this was Lee's way to get a girl, it being drilled in his mind that this would work, thanks to Gai.

"Because you're a weirdo." Sakura deadpanned. Kumiko finally was able to calm down a bit and Neji rolled his eyes.

"Oi, Neji, how come you never ask _me_ to be your girlfriend like that?" Kumiko questioned, giving him the stink-eye. Neji glared at her, a face that said 'don't even start with me', making Kumiko giggle again. She kind of didn't care anymore that Neji didn't recuperate her feelings, it was just fun to make jokes about it.

Lee's head dropped down in defeat, and Naruto began laughing too. Neji, whose attention had been fixated on Sasuke a majority of the time, began walking up to him, Kumiko following.

"Hey you, over here." Neji said to get the boys attention, which he did. "What's your name?" Kumiko sweat-dropped. If he wanted to know his name, he could have just asked her since she knew a majority of the kids a year younger than them.

"Hello, Sakura." Kumiko waved at the young girl, who smiled and waved back.

"Hi Kumiko."

Naruto, stopped his laughter to look at Neji and Sasuke, and a fire appeared in his eyes. Kumiko could practically feel the jealousy radiating off the young boy.

"It's common curtesy to give your own name before asking someone else's." Sasuke said, a cocky tone in his voice, making Kumiko purse her lips and glare at him.

"Hey you're a rookie aren't you?" Neji continued. "How old are you anyway?" Dammit Neji, these were all things you could have checked with Kumiko before just asking the kid!

"I'm not obliged to answer." Sasuke said monotonously, making Kumiko smile a bit. Neji just got shot down!

"What was that?" Neji asked, even though he heard the boy. His eyes darkened. Kumiko couldn't help but giggle at seeing Neji annoyed. The two boys then had a tiny stare-off before Sasuke turned his back and began walking away. Lee and Naruto both had their hands against the wall and were staring at the ground in defeat.

"A weirdo?"

"Ugh, no one wants to know _my_ name."

Kumiko tuned out Kakashi's team as she tried to peel Lee off the wall, but he wasn't having any of it as he sulked. Sakura and her team began walking away, as did a majority of the other teams, most likely to get to the actual room 301.

"Ugh Lee, we have to get going or we're going to get left behind." She said as she finally got fed up and yanked the boy off, sending him flying across the room.

"Well at least your strength is still hidden." Neji muttered as he picked Lee up off the ground. Kumiko snorted. Ever since Gai-sensei told them about the Chunin Exams, she's been training non-stop to boost her strength. Kumiko kicked Lee in the leg to snap him out of it.

"Cheer up, Gai-sensei wouldn't want you acting like this." She said, and that snapped Lee out of it as he bounced up.

"You are correct, Kumiko! Gai-sensei would never forgive me for acting like this!" He exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.

"That's the spirit Lee!" Kumiko grinned, but it seems Lee was thinking of something else.

"He would want me to win the heart of Sakura! I must go check something now! Do not wait for me!" He shouted, and took off in a huge run, leaving behind a bewildered Kumiko and Neji.

"How does he do it?!" Kumiko exclaimed, once again amazed at Lee and his stamina. Neji shrugged and then the duo began heading for room 301, going along with what Lee said of not waiting for him. Kumiko turned to look at Neji as they walked. "That Sasuke kid's pretty bold, are you going to challenge him?" Neji gave no answer, except for a 'hn', making Kumiko giggle.

"What about you, anyone you've got your eye on?" Neji asked out of the blue. Kumiko glanced at him, then put her finger up to her mouth to think. Honestly, she didn't want to fight anyone, since she'd most likely not do well.

"No one really. Maybe Sakura. I want to see how far she's come. I've known her since she was a young girl." Kumiko answered. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"The pink haired girl? She looks like she couldn't hurt a fly." He told her. Kumiko sweat-dropped and shrugged, knowing he was right.

Eventually they reached room 301 where they were greeted by Lee and Gai. Kumiko, a bit annoyed that Gai appeared with Lee out of nowhere, kicked them both in the butts.

"And where the hell were the two of you? Neji and I had to walk alone and he barely even talked to me!" She snapped. Lee and Gai were on the ground holding their butts while tears ran down their faces. "No, don't give me that bull crying!"

"But Kumiko..." They said in unison. She just gave them dirty looks.

After that, Gai sent his team in, and took his leave. Lee told the other two about what he had done. He had a fight with Sasuke, to which made Neji annoyed, and almost showed them his secret weapon, which made Kumiko annoyed and earned him another kick to the butt.

When the team went in, Kumiko immediately looked around for people she knew, wondering what other rookie teams there were taking part in the exams. To her surprise, she saw Hinata, Shino, and Kiba. Team Ino-Shika-Cho was already in there, and Ino waved along with Hinata when they both saw the girl. Kumiko waved back, and her team sat at a table far away from the door, but close enough so they could see and hear the people coming in.

Eventually, Team Kakashi came in, and the rookie genin got together, talking about how it was awesome they were all together again, making Kumiko roll her eyes. As far as she knew, her team was the only one from their year taking the exams.

Some guy with grey hair and a pair of glasses walked up to the kids and began talking with them. Kumiko tuned them out until she heard Naruto making some noise, and point out into the crowd of people, getting everyone to turn their heads.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to beat every one of you weaklings!" He shouted, a cheeky grin on his face, making Kumiko sweat-drop. "Believe it!"

"Hey! What's that idiot trying to do?!" Ino shouted at Sakura. "Get us killed?!" Sakura made an annoyed face at Naruto. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his big fat trap shut!"

"_Whose_ boyfriend?!" Sakura shouted, and she and Ino were at it again.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now." Naruto grinned, making Kumiko roll her eyes. Sasuke and the grey haired guy smiled, but everyone else didn't like what they heard, as they all glared at the rookies, including Team Gai.

"That's the same kid from before, isn't it?" She heard a voice say from a few tables away. Kumiko blinked a couple times as she tensed, then untensed awkwardly, and looked over. It was a boy, with a cat suit and purple paint on his face. He was talking to a very pretty blonde girl and a short boy with red hair, and a kanji marking on his forehead. She couldn't quite make it out. Did it say, 'love'? Who would get that tattooed on their forehead?

"He yips just like a little dog." The blonde said with a smirk. Kumiko stared at them for a couple more seconds, noticing they were from the Land of Sand, before turning back to look at Naruto.

"What a jerk." She muttered, annoyed that he felt the need to put everyone down like that. Maybe some of them, but not _everyone_ in there was weak.

"Well he sure hasn't lost his spunk." Neji commented, biting the inside of his cheek as he watched the scene.

"He has passion." Lee spoke with a slight nod.

"I guess you didn't intimidate him as much as you thought." Neji said in a slightly cocky tone as he looked at his comrade. "Huh, Lee?"

Kumiko smiled inwardly as she saw Sakura trying to choke the life out of Naruto, and Sakura apologizing constantly for how he acted. Her eyes widened when she noticed a group of shinobi running all around the room. She abruptly stood up, in case any of them were going to try and harm someone. She noticed the cat boy beginning to take the thing he was carrying off his back, but the red haired boy stopped him.

"Would you just for once in your life, think about what you're doing?!" Sakura continued badgering Naruto, not noticing what was going on around them. "Think about the rest of us!"

"Fine." Naruto stubbornly said.

Suddenly, one of the ninja who had been running around, tried to attack the grey haired guy, but he reacted quickly, making Kumiko's mouth drop. He was almost as fast as Lee! When the guy thought he was in the clear, he smirked, but then, his glasses cracked, making him gasp a bit, and so did Kumiko. She knew that the ninja who tried to hurt him were from the sound village when she saw their headbands.

"Oh I get it." The grey haired guy spoke. Kumiko stared at him, along with her teammates. She could see the slight interest in Neji. "So it was _that_ kind of attack?" He took off his broken glasses, and Sasuke quickly moved close to them.

"Hey I saw that! He dodged the attack!" Sasuke exclaimed, trying to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "How did that happen?"

"It must have come closer than it looked." Shikamaru said, trying to think logically. "Look at him acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy." Kumiko sweat-dropped at the jealousy in Shikamaru's voice, before she sat back down with a sigh.

Suddenly though, the grey haired guy fell on his knees and coughed up some blood.

"Kabuto, what is it?" Sakura quickly asked. Oh, so his name was Kabuto. Thank goodness, now she can quit mentally calling him 'Grey'. The guys from the sound village laughed as Kabuto continued coughing. Sakura and Naruto rushed over to him. Kumiko tuned them out and began thinking.

Those sound village ninja must be pretty strong, being about to hurt Kabuto even though he obviously dodged it. He probably got hit by the sound waves from whatever weapon the ninja who tried attacking was using. Of course if you're from the sound village, you're going to use sound as a weapon.

"Write this on your little card, punk." One of the ninja said. "The genin of the sound village will be chunin when this is over." Kumiko glared, _or maybe they'll all be dead. You never know._ "Guaranteed." Naruto and Sakura scowled.

"Hey Lee," Neji abruptly said. "What was going on with that attack?" Said boy in question blinked.

"There was more to it than just speed." Lee answered. "Some kind of trick." The girl of their team pursed her lips as she watched carefully.

"He's a sound ninja right?" She asked, and the two turned to look at her. "It's possible they used sound to hurt him, since sound travels through air. Even though the ninja wasn't physically able to hit him, the sound must have." Neji and Lee nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, there was a small explosion at the back of the room, where the chalkboards were. Everyone turned their attention off the rookies and to the new people.

"Alright you baby pasted generates! Pipe down and listen up!" Someone said in a commanding voice. Kumiko recognized it as Morino Ibiki. She hasn't really talked to him before, but has seen him around the village a couple times. "It's time to begin. I'm Morino Ibiki, your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy." Only one thing was going through Kumiko's head.

What the hell were they getting themselves into?

* * *

**Chapter 5: DONE!**

**See! Told you guys it'd get longer! **

**Fun Fact: Kumiko enjoys kicking people in the butts. It's a habit she picked up from Gai over the year they'd been a team.**

**Question: What is your favorite Naruto arc? **(Mine is the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Mainly because it involves all the guys, and they're all just so awesome in it. It's just...so good. And not to mention, Lee gets healed in it! Like, I don't know, it's just...the best.)


	6. The Written Exam

"First," Ibiki-sensei started as he pointed out into the crowd. "You candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sound! Knock it off! Who told you that you could fight?" Kumiko glanced at the sound people in annoyance. They must not have any self control around others or something. Seriously though! Who just randomly tries to attack someone?! Were they really looking to fail before the exams even start? Ibiki voiced the same question out loud.

"Sorry." The one guy who had a majority of his face wrapped in a bandage, said, although he didn't sound very sorry. In fact, it sounded like he was being sarcastic. "It's our first time." _Join the club_, Kumiko bitterly thought. "Guess we're a little jumpy." Ibiki made a noise and made sure everyone's attention was on him.

"I'll say this once so listen up. There will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor, and even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately." Ibiki's voice had turned dark at the second sentence. "Got it?" No one made a sound, until of course one of the sound ninja had to put his two cents in.

"Huh? No fatal force? That's no fun." He said, making Kumiko glare. Just who did this guy think he was? Coming to their village and thinking it's okay to act that way?! Some of the jounin behind Ibiki laughed at the guy. Ibiki ignored him though.

"Now, if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the chunin exams. Hand over your paperwork." He demanded. "In return you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated." Kumiko froze. Written test? Writing? As in, with letters? Oh crud.

Throughout her time at the academy, Kumiko has always had a hard time with written test. It isn't because she's not bright, like Naruto, or too smart for them, like Neji, but because she has a hard time putting things into words. She's much better at showing than writing. You wouldn't believe _how many_ written test she's failed.

"The what?" She heard Naruto question. "Did he say…written?" Kumiko bit her lip as she knew Naruto most likely wasn't going to pass the test also. That's okay, they can fail together. "Nooo! A written test?! No way!"

Kumiko ignored the boy as she stood up to give Ibiki her paperwork. Neji and Lee were already a bit in front of her, but there were so many people surrounding them that she lost sight of them. Desperately trying to get out of the crowd, she began retreating, deciding to just patiently wait instead.

She doubted that the examiners would have the numbers in order of handing them out, or teams would be put together when they turn in their paperwork together, and obviously they didn't want that or the genin would just be able to sit wherever they like. Maybe this way, she'd have a better chance of being seated near Neji or Lee, hell even _one_ of the rookies was fine with her, just as long as it's not some creepy stranger.

Eventually, the room cleared to the point of where there were about twenty people left. None of them was anyone she knew. She decided to join the crowd, but regretted it when she felt someone shove her. She threw her hands out to find something to grab.

"Whoa there." She heard someone say as they caught her, saving her from falling on the ground. The voice was distantly familiar, and she looked up. Staring down at her with a bit of surprise in his eyes, was the boy with the purple paint on his face wearing the cat suit. She stared up at him with her own surprise, until someone cleared their throat.

It was the blonde girl who was in his group. She was also staring down at Kumiko with a bit of an annoyed look. The red haired boy was there too, and happened to be glaring down at her. Kumiko stared at his eyes, since it looked like he was wearing eye liner. Remembering that she was in the arms of the cat boy, she quickly got up and bowed slightly.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized, then glanced at the red haired boy, who was still glaring daggers. Feeling awkward, she tried to think of something funny to say, possibly to lighten the dark look the red head was giving her. "Please don't kill me."

Okay well apparently she has a dark sense of humor.

The trio in front of her, even the red head, seemed slightly surprised by her words, but then the red head's eyes went blank. He began to stare, it wasn't just a, 'what is she waiting for', kind, it was a 'I'm going to drill holes in your head', kind.

"Why would I kill you?" The cat boy laughed hesitantly. Kumiko, feeling even more awkward, rubbed the back of her head.

"Er, never mind. Thank you for saving me from the ground." She bowed again. "Now if you'll excuse me." With that, she quickly walked to Ibiki-sensei and handed him her paperwork. He handed her another piece of paper reading 146. Oh gosh, just how many people were taking this thing?! She bowed once more and headed on in the room.

She noticed people sitting everywhere, although there were still a few empty spaces still. Glancing around, she checked to see where everyone was sitting. She inwardly giggled as she noticed Naruto and Hinata were placed next to each other. Obviously it's fate. Other than those two, no one else she knew happened to be sitting together. She quickly found her seat and was disappointed to find it wasn't near anyone she knew either. Lee had waved at her from his spot and Neji nodded. She hesitantly gave the two of them a thumbs up.

She was sitting there for a couple seconds until she felt someone settle in the seat next to her. Her eyes widened and her heard began to race as she realized it was the red haired boy from before. She noticed that he was carrying a gourd, which ended up whacking her on the head as he sat.

"Ow." She muttered, rubbing the spot. She stared at him, expecting him to apologize, but he never did, only staring straight ahead. She glared. "Well than..." She glanced down at the blank piece of paper in front of her. Why were they giving her a blank piece of paper to test on? Were they supposed to make their own test up or something?

She sweatdropped as she realized the paper must be flipped over, with the test on the other side. _Wow Kumiko, way to go. That just _proves_ you're going to fail this._

"Everyone, eyes front." Ibiki's voice said. Her eyes snapped forward. The proctor of the first exam was standing in front of the chalkboard, chalk in his hand pointed at the board. "There are a few rules you need to be aware of, and I won't answer any questions." Wow, someone's pretty strict. "So you better pay attention the first time around!"

"Alright, rule number 1 is this: The written part of the exam in conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to. You all will begin the test with a perfect score of 10 points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. So if you miss three, your final score will be seven."

Which means if we miss all ten, our score will be 0. Geez this is nerve-wracking.

"Rule number 2: Teams will pass or fail depending on the total score of all three team members." Kumiko was really grateful that she had Neji on her team now. She could tell that the news caused shock to a majority of the genin. She noticed Sakura had face planted onto her table, clearly thinking of Naruto.

"What?! Wait a second!" She shouted picking her head up. "You're saying we all get scored as a team?!"

"Silence!" Ibiki-sensei ordered. "I have my reasons, so shut up and listen." Sakura did just that.

"Rule number 3: The sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating." That made it all the worse for Kumiko. She _may_ or _may not_ have been planning on cheating off the red head next to her. "And for every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprits score." Almost everyone made a noise of protest. "Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp, and if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the test are even scored."

"This just got slightly more difficult." Kumiko muttered. She noticed the red haired boy glare at her slightly, making her close her mouth.

"Anyone foolish enough to get caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you could be." Ibiki continued. Kumiko blinked a few times, not quite understanding what he had meant. "One more thing, if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails."

Kumiko practically fell out of her seat. "What?!" She exclaimed, along with Sakura. There was no way she could pass this test! If Lee and Neji were to be disqualified because of her, she'd _never_ forgive herself.

"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period." Ibiki said. "You'll have one hour total." With that, he finally quit explaining and let the information sink into everybody's head. People were whispering around them.

"We'll all fail?" Kumiko muttered to herself. She noticed Lee looking a bit nervous, but other than that, he was smiling. Neji just gave a blank look. She sweatdropped. Okay, so Neji had this in the bag, Lee could get at least five points, and she only needed to get at least one. She could do this. After all, how hard could the test be?

When the clock hit 3:30, Ibiki-sensei yelled 'Begin!', and everyone turned their papers over, writing their names. She looked at the first question.

It looked like some kind of code, which just left her a bit confused. What? Okay skipping that, number two. It was a diagram.

_Line B in the diagram indicates the trajectory of a shuriken thrown at enemy C by ninja A seated at the top of a tree seven meters tall. Describe and formulate the trajectory required if C were positioned at points D, E, and F. Also predict the farthest possible range of the shuriken and explain how you arrived at your answer._

Kumiko blinked as she squinted at the question. What the hell if this stuff saying?! They look so complicated! She ended up face planting on her desk.

"This stuff is such bullshit." She quietly muttered. She heard shuffling from next to her as she picked her head back up. The red haired boy was also staring down at his paper, seeming a bit confused too. Honestly, she would have tried copying off him, if he had anything written down. Instead all she saw was his name.

_Sabaku no Garra_

Oh, so his name was Gaara. Well at least she can quit calling him red haired boy thankfully. His name was kind of odd though. But, she wasn't exactly one to talk with a last name like 'Rabu'. She glanced over at Neji, who had veins popping out of his face. Was he…was he really using his byakugan?! That cheater! She then glanced at the sentinels who were deducting points from people. They smirked every time they caught someone.

That's strange. _They care more about the cheaters than they do about the test itself_, she noticed. Her mind was scrambling trying to find an answer, and then her eyes widened as she remembered what Ibiki-sensei said.

_"__Anyone foolish enough to let himself be _caught_ cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. Show us, what exceptional shinobi you can be." _

Caught? Caught...? Caught. Caught!

He doesn't want us to get _caught_! He just wants us prove that we can gather information without being found out! Neji must have figured that out already, and must have been why he was using byakugan. Oh that's right, they never said they weren't allowed you use jutsu of any type!

She could tell that a bunch of people were catching onto it too. She noticed Gaara doing something with his hand, and it appeared that sand was whirling around it. He must have caught on to what they were supposed to do, and was going to try and cheat. Perfect, he should be able to get the answers with whatever he's planning to do.

The only thing in her mind, was trying to figure out what was she going to do.

The only thing she could use was her doll, but that was totally pointless since no one around seemed to have the answers, and they couldn't even show her the test or it'd be too obvious. Either way, she was doomed.

She noticed Lee was able to get a couple answers off someone by distracting them when he dropped his pencil. The person had bent to pick it up, granting Lee the ability to quickly copy, since his speed at everything was extraordinary.

Wait, he was able to distract someone? Maybe that's what she needed! A distraction!

_Thud!_

Everyone jumped as they heard the loud noise, as Naruto had also let out a yell a nanosecond before it happened. Kumiko glared over at him, since she too had jumped. Was he cheating in an obvious way? Another guy gave out a yell, and Kumiko turned to see a kunai on a desk. Naruto had a horrified look on his face.

"What the, what was that all about?" The guy questioned as he stood.

"Five strikes and you're out." A guy, who oddly looked like the guy who pushed Lee earlier, said. "You just failed the test."

"What?" The guy croaked out. Kumiko rolled her eyes and turned back to her own test, but then smirked, seeing as how this was a distraction in its own way. She quickly glanced at the guy who was sitting next to her. He was distracted, and she was able to get the first two answers.

Eventually, as time went by, more and more people were being disqualified, leading to more distractions. Kumiko smirked as this was playing right in her favor. So far she had six questions finished. The groups were dropping quickly though, and Kumiko knew she was running out of possible distractions.

She looked over and noticed Gaara had two fingers over his left eyes. She raised an eyebrow at him. What was he doing? He then crushed his hand closed. Kumiko tilted her head.

"Hey Gaara, are you okay?" She quietly muttered as she stared at him. If he wasn't feeling well, she didn't want him to go crazy or something like that. After all, it looked like he could murder someone just by _looking_ at them. Gaara froze, then looked at Kumiko with a slight glare. He had taken his hand away from his eye.

The two just stared at each other for a couple seconds, until Gaara slightly nodded. Kumiko smiled lightly, and noticed that Gaara then began writing answers down. Oh, it must have been a jutsu he was using. Now she felt dumb.

"Uh, excuse me." The cat boy raised his hand.

"What is it?" Ibiki-sensei asked.

"I've got to use the can, sorry." The cat boy said, with a bashful grin. Kumiko's eyes widened. That was perfect! She also raised her hand.

"I have to use it too sir." She said with a bashful smile of her own.

Hopefully this works.

The two were handcuffed. "We go with you to make sure you're not up to anything." The guy in charge of leading the cat boy said. Kumiko was very grateful that at least one of the sentinels was a female.

"That's perfectly understandable." The cat boy said with a smile. Kumiko sweatdropped. That guy was weird.

She noticed Neji and Lee looking at her from their seats, and she winked. They nodded, understanding that Kumiko had a plan in mind.

"This exam sure is hard." Kumiko said as she was being lead to the restroom. Her sentinel was pretty quiet. She shrugged, trying to ignore the quietness.

After using the restroom, she wasn't really lying when she said she had to use it, she was being lead back to the exam room. She noticed that there was still twenty minutes left in the exam. That meant five minutes until the tenth question. Time to put her plan into action.

"Whoops." Kumiko mumbled, dropping her doll near a guy a couple years older than her. He picked it up and handed it back to her, making her smile, but inwardly smirk. Perfect.

Quickly rushing back to her seat, and put her doll on the table, keeping a good grip on it. She didn't expect anyone to tell her to put it away, after all, Kiba had Akamaru on his head, who was obviously looking around and telling him the answers with every little yap he made.

She smirked as she made the doll stand up. Suddenly, the guy who gave her back her doll, stood up. Of course she felt a bit guilty doing this, since if most likely meant he and his team were going to get disqualified, but hey, she has to do whatever it takes to pass. Making her doll just start doing random things, she was able to get the rest of the three answers off Gaara, who was also distracted by whatever the guy was doing.

_Yes!_ She cheered in her head, and then let go of her doll, making the jutsu wear off. Of course Ibiki-sensei had disqualified him and his team. She quickly stuffed her doll back in her bag, noticing that Gaara was staring at it with wide eyes. She tensed a bit. That was probably the most emotion she's ever seen this kid give off.

"Alright, listen up!" Ibiki shouted after a couple minutes. "This is the tenth and final question!"

This was it. The big question. Obviously it's meant to be the most important one, or he wouldn't have saved it for last. Plus, since it wasn't on the test, Kumiko could assume it was one that required a verbal answer. _That_, she could handle.

"But," Ibiki's voice took a turn to the dark side. "Before I give the final question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of."

Kumiko practically fell out of her seat, again. More rules?! He's going to make her sick! The door opened and the cat boy came back in. Ibiki welcomed him, saying how he made it just in time.

"I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening." He added. She noticed the cat boys face tightened. "Well, take your seat." He did.

"These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you." Ibiki continued on. Kumiko could feel herself tense. Is there a reason he's making this seem like life and death? "Very well then, rule number 1: Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision." Everyone looked shock.

"Whoa so what's the catch?" The pretty blonde girl shouted. "Say we don't want the final question! What happens then?"

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero." Ibiki answered. "In other words, you fail, and that of course means that both your teammates fail."

Everyone made sounds of protest. Kumiko froze. So if she refused the question, then that means that Neji, Lee, and her will have wasted their time for nothing!

"Not so fast." Ibiki-sensei told them. "You didn't let me finish." More rules? "If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail," his face turned deadly serious. "You will be barred from taking the chunin exams, ever again!"

WHAT?!

"Hey that's bull man!" Kiba shouted as he pointed. "That's ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that? There's lots of people here who have taken the test before!" Ibiki began laughing.

"I guess you're…just unlucky." He said rather darkly, making Kumiko freeze again. Wow, her heart must be taking some damage from today. "I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year." He chuckled.

Kumiko didn't have to worry about Neji nor Lee trying to skip the question, seeing as how they both were dead set on being chunin. Honestly, they were probably worrying about _her_ skipping it. She never did well under pressure.

_I can't do that to them, _Kumiko thought to herself. _They'd probably hate me for the next year until the next exams. But, I'm so afraid to actually try and answer. If I get it wrong, they'll never be able to forgive me._

Why was this so hard?!

"Now then, if you're ready, the tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and then you're free to go." Ibiki continued.

At first, no one moved, and then, very slowly, the first person raised their hand. "That's it. I'm out. I'm sorry, I just can't do it. I'm sorry." He said. Kumiko tuned them out.

_I have to do this. We skipped last year's just so we could train more. I can't give up now!_

The numbers began dropping very quickly, and people were leaving. A few seconds passed, and Kumiko glanced around the room. Neither of her teammates raised their hand, and neither did any of the Rookie 9, that is, until Naruto slowly raised his.

She glared at him, and immediately felt bad for Sakura and Sasuke. Of course, leave it to Naruto to screw up something important for his teammates. It seemed like he was struggling to say something, and then suddenly, he slammed his hand on the table, making almost everyone jump. Kumiko looked at him confused. Make up your damn mind kid.

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto shouted. "I don't quit and I don't run!" She sweatdropped. No one said you did… "You can act tough all you want. You guys aren't gonna scare me! No way! I don't care if I _do_ get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life!" He now stood up.

**"I'll still be Hokage someday!"**

Kumiko's look of annoyance slowly turned into one of awe. This kid, who wasn't the brightest, or the toughest, still believed that even if he was to be a genin the rest of his life, he'd still be able to make Hokage? That dream of his was growing bigger every day.

"This decision is one that could change your life." Ibiki-sensei said. "If for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance." Naruto's face was determined.

"No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja." He said. Kumiko could feel a slight smile growing on her face as she looked at the blond boy up front. Maybe he really did have what it takes. You don't _really_ have to be intellectually smart to be a great ninja.

"Well then, I admire your determination." Ibiki continued. "Nothing else, for those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do. That's for me to tell you," Kumiko felt her heart skip a beat as she waited for the question.

**"That you've all passed the first exam!"**

Kumiko fell out of her chair for a third time.

"Hold on, what just happened?" She exclaimed, jumping up. "What do you mean we passed? Where's the tenth question?" She was genuinely confused. Ibiki chuckled as he smirked.

"There never was one." He answered. "Not a written one at least. Actually, your decision to stay was the tenth question." Kumiko's made a 'what' face.

"Wait a second!" Kumiko heard the pretty blonde snap. "So the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time?!" Kumiko sweatdropped. Geez, she just wanted to go home now.

"No, not at all." Ibiki-sensei told them. "Quite the opposite. The first nine questions had a good purpose. To test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances." The pretty blonde sat back in her seat.

"Oh well that answers everything." She replied rather sarcastically.

"Let me explain. You see my objective was to test you not only as individuals, but as a team, and how well you function as part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis, so you know that everything you did, or failed to do, would directly affect your teammates."

He had a good point.

"I wanted to see how you handled the pressure."

Naruto crossed his arms and nodded. "Mhm, yeah I figured it was something like that. That's why I kept my cool." Kumiko rolled her eyes, and Hinata giggled.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact, as you may have realized, too difficult for any genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you quickly came to that conclusion that you'd have to cheat if you had any chance at passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating. It almost demanded it. Of course it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two chunin who already knew the answers, and had them sit with you."

Kumiko, for a fourth time, fell out of her seat. The exams had just begun and she was already sick of them. Naruto laughed and stuck his arms behind his head.

"Oh come on, I wasn't fooled for a second." He said. "You had to be a complete doofus to not see it! Isn't that right, Hinata?"

"Says the one who didn't even know that one of the disguised people were sitting right in front of him the whole time." Kumiko muttered as she put her hand on her chin.

"Those who were caught at it, failed." Ibiki continued. "Better not to cheat, than to cheat clumsily." He then took his headband off, making everyone gawk at him. "Information. It can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether the mission was a failure, or a success."

Kumiko gasped at the top of Ibiki-sensei's head. It looked absolutely horrid and disgusting. It was scarred, burned, and even punctured! No wonder he always wore that cloth.

"There'll be times when you have to risk your lives to get it." He began putting his cloth back on. "Of course you must always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy, is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind. This information is worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades, or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence. Cheat! In order to survive."

His speech was getting pretty long.

"And that's why those who weren't good at it were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."

"Okay," The blonde girl started. "But I'm still not getting what the tenth question thing was all about."

"You're not?" Ibiki asked. "The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam. Surely you see that."

"Sure, but explain it anyway." Kumiko demanded. Honestly, she was still a bit confused herself.

"As I said before, the goal was to test you not only as individuals, but also as a squad. The final question, gave you two choices. Both difficult. You could choose to play it safe, and skip the question, though it meant that both you and your teammates will be failed, or you could try and answer it, knowing that if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being chunin. It was a no win situation."

So, they only passed because they took the risk?

"But just the sort chunin have to face almost every day. For example, let me give you a hypothetical mission. To steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has, or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to believe that the enemy expects you. Now you might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission? Of saying my comrades and I would rather live to see another day?"

Kumiko looked at her desk. Can he hurry up with this already? Maybe she never should have asked him to explain.

"Can you choose to avoid danger? No! There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But do _not _think about it. You think only of the goal, and of achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a chunin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy, by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor, will never be able to call themselves chunin. At least not as long as I am here."

Ibiki-sensei sure did enjoy talking.

"As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the chunin selection exam, completed. There's nothing left, but to wish you all good luck." He finally finished!

"Alright, we did it! That's one down!" Naruto cheered as he jumped up. Kumiko slouched in her chair, feeling a huge weight disappear.

"We did it." She breathed happily, grateful that it was over. Suddenly, Ibiki snapped his head towards the window. Something flew through it after a second, breaking the window. Kumiko's eyes widened as some kunai were thrown into the ceiling in opposite ways, attached to some huge paper.

"Is this, part of the test?" Naruto's eyes widened.

"What the hell?" Kumiko muttered as she saw some lady standing in front of the paper.

"Heads up boys and girls! This is no time to be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Matarashi Anko!" The woman exclaimed as she did some kind of pose. "You ready for the second test?" Kumiko sweatdropped as she looked at the banner.

_Here comes the Second Tests Proctor: Mitarashi Anko!_

Anko-sensei didn't even wait for anyone to say anything before she threw her fist in the air. "Good, then follow me!" Everyone gawked at her. What an entrance! Ibiki-sensei came out from behind the banner that blocked him when she entered.

"You're early, again." He said. Anko blushed.

"Uh," She muttered. Kumiko rolled her eyes. "How many are there? Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft."

Soft? Ibiki-sensei, soft?! That test was probably the most heart wrenching experience Kumiko's had in the longest of time!

"Or it could be," Ibiki started. "A stronger crop of candidates this year." He seemed rather proud to say that. Anko turned to look at everyone.

"Hmm, they sure don't look it." She said, making Kumiko glare lightly. "Trust me, before I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated."

"Huh?" Kumiko spoke up, her eyes wide. "More than half? Really?"

"Hm, this is gonna be fun." Anko muttered. "Alright, you maggots have had it easy so far, but things are gonna be different first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet me. Dismissed."

Oh dear lord, Kumiko's gonna be dead by the end of the exams.

* * *

**Done! Yeesh, this chapter is like the longest so far. Originally I was going to have it split up into two different chapters, but both of those seemed too short on their own, so I just put them together. Honestly, I just want to get done with the chunin exams because after that, the REAL good stuff begins! **

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's favorite color is red, while her least favorite is green.**

**Question: Which exam part was your favorite one? (Mine was the fighting, just because it showed more details about everyone)**


	7. Forest of Death

When morning came, Kumiko was feeling tired. She could hardly sleep last night from the excitement of the day. When they met with Gai-sensei, he told them that they were to meet at the 44th battle training zone in the morning. Of course, he first congratulated them, and then wished them luck on the next part of the exam.

When morning came, Team Gai, minus Gai, headed off to the forest. They were one of the first teams to get there. Eventually, when all of the teams reached, they were to begin.

"Whoa, nice place." Naruto commented, looking at it in awe. "What is it?" Everyone was standing behind a fence, staring. Kumiko pursed her lips as she stared. The place was giving her an eerie feeling. How come she never knew of this place before today? Do they keep it a secret, or have they just never really ventured out to there before?

"This is the place for the second exam." Anko-sensei explained. "It's the 44th battle training zone, but we call it, the Forest of Death." Oh great, even the name was creepy.

"Forest of, Death?" Naruto weakly repeated.

"This whole place is creeping me out." Kumiko muttered to Lee and Neji, who nodded. She noticed the both of them were slightly tense at having to explore an unknown place. Anko, having heard her, laughed.

"It should. They call it the Forest of Death for a reason, and soon enough, you're going to find out why." She told her. Kumiko rolled her eyes and shifted her feet.

Naruto, hearing her, began mocking what she said, while shaking his butt. _What a dork, _Kumiko couldn't help but think. This kid has absolutely no shame in the things he does apparently.

"Do your worst! You're not gonna scare me away." He said, then pointed at Anko. "I can handle anything!"

"Does he not have on off button?" Kumiko asked Sakura, who was giving Naruto an annoyed look.

"He does when you ask Sasuke his name." She replied, rolling her eyes. Kumiko snorted.

Anko smiled and tilted her head to the side. "So, looks like we've got ourselves a tough guy." Then, all of a sudden, a kunai appeared out of her sleeve, and she threw it directly past Naruto's ear. Anko appeared behind Naruto. "You tough enough to handle this?"

"Is there a reason everyone here feels like they have to prove how tough they are?" Kumiko asked with a sweat-drop. Seriously, she's getting sick of it. Why can't they just get on with the exam already? She tuned them out, deciding that playing with her hair was much more interesting than whatever was going on.

She looked over at Neji, who looked bored with what was going on, and Lee, who was very much into what was going on. Apparently some grass ninja appeared behind Anko with her tongue wrapped around Anko's kunai.

"Oi, Neji, why's your hair so long?" Kumiko asked. Neji, looked at her and gave an annoyed look.

"Because I like it long." He simply answered. Kumiko snorted.

"You know it makes you look like a girl, right?" She rhetorically asked. She knew it was a family tradition. All Hyuuga have long hair, well, oddly, everyone but Hinata, even though she didn't exactly know why. It made Hinata seem like an even bigger outcast from her family than she already is. Of course, Kumiko would never say something like this in front of her. That's just rude.

An anger tick appeared on Neji's head. "Why you-"

"It seems like everyone here today is quick tempered." Anko said with a chuckle as she noticed the slight argument that was about to begin between the two. "There must be something in the air." She gathered everyone's attention. "This is gonna be fun."

Apparently everyone has a different sense of fun.

"Now before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all." Anko spoke as she pulled out a huge stack of papers. "It's just a standard consent form. Before the test, all of you are going to have to read over this form, and then sign it."

"What for?" Naruto asked. Consent form? Usually consent forms were used for dangerous things…

"Some of you may not come back from this test," Anko simply said. "And I have to get your consent to that risk, otherwise it would be my responsibility." She then laughed, as if what she said was funny. Kumiko shivered.

She did tell her father good-bye, right?

"Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test." She continued. "Here, pass these out." She handed the papers to Naruto, who began giving them out to everyone. Kumiko thanked him as he gave her one.

"The first thing you need to know is that this test will test every one of our survival skills." Kumiko could do that, after all, there's been many times that her team has gone on missions, with Lee or Gai-sensei forgetting to bring essentials. "First, I'll give you all a description of the terrain on the practice field."

Anko held up a scroll that showed what looked to be a map of the area.

"The 44th battle training zone has 44 locked entrance gates. There are rivers, and a forest inside. In the center, is a locked tower, located 10 kilometers from each gate. It's in this confined area that you'll undergo the survival test. The test consists of," She put the scroll away. "An anything goes battle, to get your hands, on these scrolls." She brought out two smaller scrolls that were different.

"Both of them?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yes." Anko answered. "You'll be fighting to get both, a heaven's scroll, and an earth scroll."

Kumiko sighed. So the objective isn't to _only_ survive the forest, but to also fight another team for their scroll? Well, at least she's got Neji and Lee on her team. No way are they weak fighters. If she's lucky, someone will be stupid enough to pick up her doll.

"Altogether, 26 teams will be taking part in this test. So half of those teams, will be going after the heaven's scroll, and the other half will be trying to get the earth scroll. I'll hand over one kind of scroll to each team, and that's what you'll be vying for."

"Okay," Sasuke spoke. Kumiko bit her lip. This kid's actually talking more these days. How odd. "So how do we pass the test?"

_Didn't she just say how? We battle to get both scrolls! Jeez, was this kid secretly blond? Come on Sasuke, you're smarter than that. Maybe. Not exactly sure since he asked that question._

"Your entire squad must bring both the heaven and earth scroll to the tower." Anko answered, restating the obvious.

"That means that at the very best, half of us will fail, more if not every team is able to get both the scrolls." Sakura spoke up.

"Well, no one ever said it'd be easy." Kumiko sweat-dropped. "Oh and one more thing. The test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days." Everyone's mouth dropped a bit.

"Five days out there?!" Ino exclaimed.

"What are we supposed to do for food?!" Chōji shouted, looking absolutely horrified. Ah jeez, these rookies were giving her a headache. How come only the rookies were asking the questions? Did no body else care to ask, or do they not need to considering they've most likely done this thing before?

"Just look around. The forest is full of things to eat. There's plenty to feed all of you." Anko told them.

"Yeah but," Kabuto started. "That's not all the forest has plenty of. There are man eating beast and poisonous plants in there."

"Oh man~"

"Quiet down." Kumiko told Chōji as she put her hand on his shoulder. "This is why they call it survival." Neji looked over at them.

"That means, with these circumstances, that there's no way half the teams will pass the test." He spoke. Lee shared a look with him.

"With the days getting longer, the nights are getting shorter. So, we will have less time to sleep, and less time to recover." He said, then smirked. "It is a challenge indeed." His teeth did a twinkle.

"I should smack Gai-sensei for teaching you how to do that." Kumiko muttered as Lee turned to smile at her.

"Completely surrounded by enemies." Sasuke said, looking at the forest. "There won't be time to rest. We'll have to keep a constant watch."

"Right. This test also measures endurance behind enemy lines. This is designed to be a grueling test, and I'm sure some of you won't be up to the challenge." Anko said. Shikamaru raised his hand.

"So um, let's say mid-exam, can we quit?" He asked. Anko gave him a look.

"Of course not! In the middle of a battle you can't say, 'sorry I quit'." She then chuckled. "Well I guess you could, but it's probably gonna get you killed." Shikamaru crossed his arms, obviously displeased.

"Oh just great." He muttered, then made a face. "This is gonna be a drag."

"Everything's a drag to you." Kumiko snorted. Shikamaru, overhearing her, turned to give her a look.

"Your face is a drag." He deadpanned. A tick mark appeared on her head as she grabbed the boy by the shirt.

"Why you little-"

"Come on guys." Chōji tried settling the conflict, putting his arm gently on Kumiko's arm to keep her from strangling the boy. Anko ignored them.

"There are also some ways you can get disqualified. The first is simple, if all three members of a team can't make it to the tower with both scrolls after 5 days." She told them. "Number 2, if a team loses a member, or a member becomes incapacitated and can't continue. But most important, none of you, _absolutely_ none of you, may look at the contents of the scrolls until you've reached the tower."

"What it flops open and you happen to read it?" Naruto asked.

"Let me put it this way young man. You. Don't. Want. To. Know."

Kumiko kinda wanted to know now. She let go of Shikamaru, who was just looking away, a bored emotion on his face. She pursed her lips and sighed. "You're lucky you're cool." She mumbled. A small smirk made it's way on the boys face, but he didn't say anything.

"There are times when a ninja will be asked to carry secret documents." Anko said. "The scroll rule is to test your integrity. Okay, we're done."

"Finally!" Kumiko couldn't help but exclaim. Her head was hurting from all the rules and stupid questions people kept asking.

"Well _excuse me_ for needing to explain." Anko said as she gave the young girl a look, but then smiled. "Each team will take their consent forms and exchange them over there for your scrolls. After that, each team will pick a gate, and you'll be led inside." She then sighed. "Oh and I have one more word of advice, just don't die!"

No shit. Of course they weren't gonna die. They're the protagonist.

Kumiko blinked, wait what?

The huge group dispersed. "Are you finished staring at the sky? The blank look on your face is bothering me." Neji said as he walked over with Lee. Kumiko glared at him and stuck her tongue out.

"Oh shut up you sourpuss. You're just jealous because I look adorable with a blank face, and you look terrifying." She remarked, lifting her nose in the air. Neji snorted and Lee smiled.

"Which gate do you think we should go through?" He asked. Kumiko shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but for now we should get a scroll."

And so they did. After walking over to the stand area, which the inside was blocked from everyone's view, they patiently waited their turn. When inside, they gave their forms and were handed an earth scroll. They decided to randomly pick a gate. Since every gate was 10 kilometers from the tower, no gate should have a higher advantage.

Ten minutes passed before everyone got their scrolls. "Alright, listen up!" Anko shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Every team's gotten their scrolls so everybody go to your gate and wait there. When the gates open, the test is on!"

They headed for gate 41. It wasn't close to any of the rookies, so Kumiko didn't have to worry about running into any of them soon. Honestly, she wanted all of them to pass, just to see how they'd do in the next exam. As each exam progresses, it's supposed to get harder and harder.

Kumiko snorted as she noticed a fire burning in Lee's eyes. He must mentally be promising Gai-sensei something. She elbowed Neji lightly, and pointed at Lee. He smirked and made a 'hn' sound, while Kumiko giggled. The guy in front of their gate unlocked it, but didn't move.

Tick, tick, tick. The second the time stuck 2:30, Kumiko could hear Anko's voice.

"Alright heads up you maggots, the second part of the test has begun." Immediately, the gates swung open, and they ran in.

"This will be fun." Kumiko muttered, excited that the exam was _finally_ starting.

They decided to travel through the trees than on the ground, so that way they'd be able to spot people quicker. They were traveling for about thirty seconds before Kumiko noticed how fast Lee was trying to go. Neji noticed too.

"Take it easy Lee, the test has only just begun." He said. Lee smirked.

"That may be, but still," He spoke. "Whoever our enemies are, I want to find _them_ before _they_ find us." Neji and Kumiko smiled.

"You hot-blooded fool." Neji lightly laughed.

Time passed and they eventually decided to take a rest by the river. It's a good thing too because the sun had gone down. It was a good and bad thing that they hadn't met with any teams yet. Good, because they haven't had to fight anyone yet, but bad because they still only have the one scroll.

It's a good thing they have five days.

They had eaten some berries that Kumiko found, after checking that they weren't dangerous of course. Lee was sitting on a rock, Neji on the ground, and Kumiko was leaning against a tree, drinking some water. After all that running, she was pretty dehydrated.

"Alright," Neji spoke as he stood. "That's enough resting up I think. The other teams will be calling it a day soon, and that means, it's time to strike. You know the plan, we split up and fan out. Whatever happens, whether we make contact with another team or not, we meet up back here in this spot."

He stabbed the ground with one of his kunai, indicating that this is where they're supposed to meet.

"Got it?" Neji asked. Kumiko sighed.

"Got it." She muttered. Lee put his hand up in a salute.

"Roger."

"Alright then, let's move!"

With that, they all dispersed. Kumiko sighed as she headed east of the river. They were all to be separated for at least a while so they could try and find a team to get a scroll from. It really depended on chance. Which teams they were to run into, which scroll they had, or even if they could find any at all! After all, since it was night, teams are to be more on the lookout. Plus, considering she was alone, it may be a tad harder taking down a whole team of three by herself.

After running around for an hour, Kumiko began to feel helpless. She wasn't finding any teams. This was just plain stupid, how come she couldn't find any? Yes, she's not the greatest tracker, but there's 25 teams besides her own, she should have met at least one by now!

Her eyes widened when she felt a presence coming towards her quickly. She gasped as she realized it was a shuriken that was now lodged into the tree she was standing on. She looked down, to see three faces staring up at her, two drenched in fear, and one hidden, so she couldn't really tell. She knew exactly who they were.

"Why you insolent little brats!" She shouted as she jumped down. "You don't just randomly throw a shuriken like that!"

"S-sorry Kumiko." Hinata said meekly as she blushed. Kiba was also blushing while rubbing the back of his head and also apologized. Akamaru gave a little yip, as he tried hiding himself in Kiba's hood.

"We didn't know it was you." Shino told her. "Why? Because all Hinata told us was that someone was quickly coming this way." Kumiko rolled her eyes and scowled.

"Well, you're all lucky that I enjoy your company sometimes, or I'd kick all of your asses." She said, then paused, and scowled more. "Why is it that the first team I meet, is you guys?!" Like really! She was complaining about not finding a team, and now that she found one, it's a team that she doesn't want to fight.

"Maybe it's fate." Hinata suggested with a small smile. Kumiko sweat-dropped at the young girl. Constantly she's always hearing about 'destiny' from Neji, and now Hinata's gonna say something about fate?

"Ah jeez, you're not allowed around Neji anymore." She said. Not that Neji actually willingly spent time with her though, so it's not that different. She frowned. "Have you guys run into any other teams yet?"

"Just one, but we didn't get their scroll." Kiba answered. Kumiko nodded.

"Ah, which one are you looking for?" She asked. The trio remained quiet as they stared at her, making her blush. "Oh yeah, stupid question. I forgot we're rivals for now." She noticed Shino get a little closer to her, making her glare. "Shino, I swear if you stick one of your bugs on me, I'll crush _it, and_ your glasses." He moved a bit away.

Of course she knew about him sticking bugs on people when he needs to locate them. He's done it to her before when she'd help them train a bit. Actually, she knew a majority of all their abilities, the same as they knew a majority of hers.

"Anyways, I should get going now." Kumiko said. The trio looked at her surprised.

"You're not going to try and fight us?" Kiba asked. Akamaru gave her a look too, as if trying to see if she'd actually try and sneak attack them. Kumiko waved her hand.

"Nah, you're all not strong enough for me." She said with a shrug, making Kiba glare, Shino shift, and Hinata blush. The younger girl gave a small smile.

"Oh, I get what you're doing." She said quietly, making Kumiko then blush, but give her a wink. Of course she wasn't going to try and fight any of them. She's had much more experience, and even though they knew about her doll, they haven't really seen how good she is with weapons. She probably could take them all out if she really wanted to.

"How sweet," They all turned to see a group of three people staring at them from the tree above. "Sweetness won't get you anywhere in these exams, though." They jumped down, making Kumiko shove Team 8 behind her, her arms blocking them. Kiba tried getting around her so that he could easily protect Hinata and Shino if needed, but Kumiko grabbed his arm, making him stop.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked them. They were three guys, all with headbands signifying that they were from Sunagakure.

"Who are we? Well we're the guys who are going to take your scroll." The one in the middle, who seemed to be the leader, said with a smirk. Kumiko glared.

"Oh yeah?!" Kiba snapped. "I'd like to see you try." Kumiko turned to the kid with an annoyed look.

"Kiba, shut _up_." She ordered. Was he _trying_ to get them killed? She turned back to the three and studied them as they had a stare off.

The leader had spiky black hair and was wearing his headband around his neck. The guy on his left had long blond hair, and his headband was around his waist, while the third guy was bald, and had his headband around his forehead. They all were wearing the same outfit. It was a pair of black shorts and a purple long sleeved shirt, and the chest area was slightly open. The were all shoe-less.

"Who _are_ you?" Kumiko repeated. "If we're going to be fighting, then I need something to call you." Honestly, it's a lot easier for her if she has something to call them, so that she can plan out her strategy quicker. The trio of idiots in front of her shared looks.

"My name's Sho." Baldie said.

"Kenji." Blondie told them.

"And I'm Kawaki." The black haired guy said. "Now what are your names?"

Kumiko deadpanned. "I'm not telling you." The trio of idiots fell down, making Team 8 chuckle behind her. The one known as Sho jumped up and began stomping his feet.

"We told you our name so tell us yours now!" He demanded.

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes-"

"Oh for the love of everything Sho, just shut up!" Kenji snapped. Sho glared at him, and Kawaki just looked plain annoyed. Kumiko raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't matter. Let's just beat them and take their scrolls." She glared now. Yeah right! Glancing at the team behind her, she frowned. She should really just let them fight, and leave, but she'd feel slightly guilty doing that. She sighed and turned to the trio behind her.

"Okay, Kiba, I want you to take that Sho guy, and Shino, you take care of Kenji. Hinata and I got Kawaki." She ordered. The group stared at her, confused.

"Kumiko, you're not our leader. Why? Because-" Shino started, making said girl drop. She quickly jumped up and glared at the young boy.

"I know that, but I'm older, and unless you guys want to possibly get beaten by them, and lose, let me lead!" She demanded. She knew she made it sound like she had no faith in them, but come on, these kids going up against older teens? They've had years of practice as a team, while these three have only had months.

Kiba rolled his eyes but glared at the Sho guy, Akamaru growling while on top of his head.

"Whatever." He muttered. Kumiko nodded, and glanced at Shino, who also nodded. She then looked to Hinata, who seemed rather terrified. Frowning softly, Kumiko put her hand on top of the young girls head. This is why she wanted Hinata to fight with her. The young girl looked so scared by the people in front of them.

"Are you lame-o's done talking yet?" Kenji asked as he lazily looked to them. Kumiko turned and rolled her eyes, but then grabbed a shuriken and threw it quickly at Kawaki. He barely dodged it, the trio of them separating.

"I want that one." He stated as he glared down at Kumiko. With that, Kiba and Shino attacked the ones who Kumiko ordered them too. She wasn't too bothered to worry about them, knowing that they were rather smart and strong in their battles, and had more confidence than Hinata did.

"Prepare, Hinata." Kumiko warned as she distanced herself a bit from the young girl. Hinata nodded tensely, looking around, but Kumiko's eyes were trained on Kawaki.

It seemed as if time slowed down for everyone, but then, someone made the first strike. Kumiko had run up to Kawaki and tried to kick him in the gut, but he blocked her. Apparently she's not the fastest fighter, and this guy had a good amount of speed on him. Of course, he was nothing compared to Lee, but was faster than her.

They then began trying to use taijutsu on each other. Every time one of them would try and hit the other, the opposite would block. It continued like that for a couple more seconds, until Kumiko was able to grasp his left wrist, and twisted it slightly. Not enough to break it, but enough for it to hurt.

"Ow!" Kawaki snapped as he brought his wrist back, and jumped a couple feet away, cradling his wrist on his chest. He glared, then smirked. "Big mistake."

With that, he disappeared from her eyesight. Kumiko's eyes widened as she no longer felt his presence. "Where-" She muttered, but never got to finish her sentence, because she felt something connecting with her gut. Gasping, she doubled over, only for someone to bash her head on their knee.

"K-Kumiko!" Hinata gasped as she tried rushing over to her friend. Kumiko quickly stood up straight, wincing in pain as she held her hand out towards Hinata, stopping her.

"No! Stay where you are, hime! This guy's concealing his presence. I need your help." She told her, then frowned. "I need you to use your byakugan." Hinata looked confused.

"Why?" She asked. Kumiko was about to answer, but then she felt another punch to her shoulder. She sharply gasped, then bit her lip, trying to grasp whatever hit her. She barely touched it, but she felt something very recognizable. Flesh.

"Just as I suspected. He's able to blend in with his surroundings." She answered, then turned to Hinata to explain how she got to the conclusion. "When we were fighting one on one, I was testing his speed. He's only the slightest bit faster than me, so when it seemed like he disappeared, most would assume he ran off, but he really just used genjutsu, also concealing his presence."

"Smart kid. I'm rather surprised you were able to figure that out quickly." She heard Kawaki say to the right of her. She quickly moved left. "But that doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me." She felt someone hit her back, making her fall on the ground. She coughed, trying to gasp for air. He had hit a vital point on her body, knocking the air out of her.

Finally, when she was able to catch her breath after a few seconds, she turned to Hinata. "Use your byakugan to tell me where he is! You're able to use it to search for people, right?" After all, Neji can do it.

"Y-yes, but…" Hinata trailed off. Kumiko glared slightly, annoyed that even now, Hinata was too afraid to use her byakugan.

"Hinata!" She snapped. Hinata's eyes widened as Kumiko snapped. Never before had the duo been in such a serious situation together. Nodding, Hinata frowned.

"R-right." She said, then closed her eyes for a second, and they snapped open. "Byakugan!" She gasped. "He's directly to your left!" Kumiko, acting fast, grabbed her kunai and yanked it to the left of her. She felt it touching something.

"Nice job Hinata! I cut him." Kumiko told her. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for his blending jutsu to wear off.

"To your right!" This continued on for a little under a minute, until Hinata was thrown backwards. "Ah!" Kumiko glared at where Hinata was. It was her fault that had happened, Kumiko's. She was unknowingly moving closer to Hinata, and Kawaki had taken that as an advantage to attack Hinata.

"You bastard!" She snapped as she lunged to where Hinata was laying. She was very grateful when she felt herself land on a body. Kawaki's body manifested.

"Hinata! Kumiko!" Kiba shouted as he ran over to them. He must have already finished his fight. Actually, he did, since Akamaru could be seen dragging an unconscious Sho by the pant leg to them.

"Sho!" Kawaki exclaimed, seeing his fallen comrade. Kumiko didn't care though, as she punched the guy in the face.

"How dare you attack a young girl like that!" She snapped, throwing her fist down again. She was angry.

"Kumiko stop!" Kiba snapped as Kumiko landed another punch. Kawaki was now unconscious, her last hit knocking him out. Kumiko felt hands grabbing at her waist and pulling her away. It was Shino. An unconscious Kenji lying next to Sho, a couple feet away.

"Kumiko." Shino said monotonously.

"Kumiko." Hinata repeated, lifting herself from the ground. Kumiko paused. She blinked a couple times, then frowned. Why couldn't she stop? All she remembered was seeing Hinata go down, and then seeing red.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, jerking herself out of Shino's grip.

"It's okay." Hinata said as she put her hand on Kumiko's shoulder. Hinata looked pretty untouched, except for the slight dirt on her cheek. Kiba was also practically untouched except for a small scratch on his right cheek, and Shino looked absolutely untouched. She sweat-dropped. Why does it look like she had the hardest battle?

She glanced back at Kawaki. Well, he _is_ the leader, so that must mean he's the strongest. Right? Sighing, she walked over to the guy, and dug her hand around his pocket. Ignoring the slightly disturbed look from Kiba, after all, people don't normally go digging through others pockets, she pulled out a scroll. Bingo! It's a Heaven one!

"Oh, it's the H-heaven one." Hinata said, disappointment in her voice. Kumiko frowned.

"Oh, do you guys already have it?" She questioned, then inwardly smiled. Well, looks like this worked well in her favor.

"Yeah, so you can just have that one. Why? Because you need it." Shino said. Kumiko outwardly smiled this time, very grateful that they were just going to let her take it. Kiba frowned a bit, but then lightly smiled.

"Yeah, after all, you're the one who took the most damage." He said, a bit of cockiness in his tone, making a tick mark appear on Kumiko.

"Why you little brat! I'll-"

"Anyways, we should do something with them before they wake." Shino said as he cocked his head toward the unconscious trio on the ground. Kumiko agreed, even though she was a bit annoyed from him cutting her treat off. With the help of Kiba, who oddly brought rope along with him, they were able to tie the three up together.

"What do we do with them?" Hinata asked as she stared at the unconscious trio.

"Just leave them here. I think we did a good enough number on them, that they'll be out for the next 24 hours." Kumiko answered. "When morning comes, we will separate. Let's sleep for now."

Team 8 agreed.

* * *

**Done! Chapter 7 is completed! Okay so, if no one's noticed yet, I changed Choji to ****Chōji. It's not a huge difference but, a lot more people was spelling it like that so I got got writer pressured into doing it also. This chapter's over 5K long! Look at my precious! Oh, and look at that! Some original content! This was going to be split up into two chapters, like the last one, but I decided to just mash them together, since each would have been like 2.5K and that's a bit too small for me when I'm trying to make chapters longer.**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's birthday is August 5th. **

**Question: Which Naruto (original) opening is your favorite? (**Mine is the 3rd one, kanashimi wo yasashisa)


	8. Finishing the Second Exam

When Kumiko woke the next day, she was absolutely tired from the last night. On the bright side, since she got a heaven's scroll, all they had to do was regroup and head for the tower, which Neji can easily find using his byakugan. Sighing, she looked down at Team 8. Shino was being lookout while Hinata and Kiba slept.

"Morning Kumiko." Shino said as she jumped down to the ground.

"Hello, Shino." She said with a nod. "I'm going to be taking my leave for now. Thank you for watching over me while I slept."

"Yes, and thank you for protecting us last night." Shino said with his own nod. Kumiko bit her lip before smiling.

"Good luck in the exam. I hope to see you guys at the tower." She told him, before heading off, the scroll tucked tightly in her pocket. Thankfully, there was still an hour until she had to meet back up with her team. That would give her enough time for a bathroom break.

When she reached their meeting spot, she wasn't surprised to see Neji there already. But, she was a bit surprised that Lee wasn't. Usually Kumiko was the last when they got together.

"Lee not back yet?" She asked as she looked around. Neji shook his head.

"No," He said a bit annoyed, then glanced at her. "I didn't have any luck getting a scroll. Did you?" Kumiko smirked, and brought the heaven's scroll out of her pocket.

"Ta-da." She said with a grin, very amused when she saw Neji's eyes slightly widen and his mouth drop a bit, but then he quickly composed himself.

"How did you get one already?" He asked. Kumiko blushed lightly.

"Well see, last night I ran into Hinata's team. They tried attacking me, but then someone tried attacking them, so I helped to fight the people who tried hurting them, off. Turns out that Hinata's team has a heaven scroll though, and so did the team who attacked us. So after we beat them, Hinata gave me the extra heaven scroll and well…yeah." She answered.

Neji frowned. Maybe he _should_ have just taken the scroll from Team 10, after all they're too weak to get a scroll on their own anyways. Maybe then he wouldn't feel like he lost to a girl.

"So basically you had to get the rookies to help you?" He asked, but it sounded more like a statement. Kumiko glared.

"No, if anything _I_ helped _them_ keep their scroll. They just rewarded me." She snapped, making Neji roll his eyes.

"Doesn't matter anyways, at least we don't have to worry about getting a scroll now." He said. Kumiko nodded, then sighed as she realized Lee still wasn't here.

"Lee's late." She spoke, then frowned. "And he's never late. He's pretty fanatical about being on time. Do you think he happened to run into the enemy?" Neji chuckled thinking of Lee.

"No I'm sure he's alright. He's more than capable of taking down a couple a weaklings." He said, but then his face turned serious. "But still, we better go find him." Kumiko nodded.

"Right." She agreed. With that, the two took off. Kumiko sighed thinking of Lee.

Even if he did meet an enemy, he could handle them. Right? After all, he's pretty amazing at taijutsu. She remembered the first time that Lee mastered the lotus, which was a very powerful and dangerous jutsu.

Lee was doing a weird little dance to celebrate, while Neji and Kumiko were panting heavily, disappointed that they didn't do so well. Or at least, Neji didn't do so well. Kumiko was beginning to get the hang of it, but she was no pro like Lee was. Gai-sensei tried getting Lee's attention, but since he was so into the dancing, Gai had to punch him to get his attention.

After Gai had forbidden Lee from using it, Lee was disappointed. But, Gai gave him a rule that the only time he could use the jutsu, was to protect the life of someone precious. Considering that Sakura was the girl Lee had his sights set on, she really hoped the girl wasn't in any trouble.

"Neji, do you see him anywhere?" Kumiko asked after they were running for about twenty minutes. She had assumed that Neji was using his byakugan to try and find Lee, since it's the easiest way to find someone.

"No, but since he'd left this way, if we keep going, we're bound to eventually find him." Neji answered. Kumiko nodded. They'll eventually find him, _depending_ on if he actually continued going this way, considering that Lee sometimes gets off track. Neji then made a sound. "I found him." Kumiko sighed in relief.

"Great, where is he?" She asked. Neji pointed straight.

"About a hundred yards ahead of us." He said. Kumiko rolled her eyes. That's not that far. "But, there's about 9 other people with him." Her eyes widened.

"What the hell did he do?!" She exclaimed. Neji rolled his own eyes.

"I can see everyone. Teams 7 and 10, and the people from the sound village. They're all there." Neji told her. Her eyebrows furrowed. Just what the heck was going on? Quickly, they reached the clearing. Kumiko gasped at what she could see.

Lee was laying in the clearing, on the ground. He seemed like he was passed out, but Kumiko couldn't really tell. Naruto and Sasuke were actually unconscious on the ground, side by side. Sakura was on her knees, trying to block them, and it seemed like her hair was a _lot_ shorter than before. Shikamaru was holding Ino's limp body, and Chōji was on the ground, but not knocked out. The sound village people were staring at them.

She noticed Shikamaru had his shadow possession jutsu on one of the sound village people, but it slowly went back to him. He must be running out of chakra. The sound village guy chuckled.

"So, your paralysis jutsu has a limited duration I see." He said.

"Shadow possession jutsu." Shikamaru corrected. "Get your jutsu's right." Kumiko rolled her eyes. Seriously? Everyone's lives are in danger, and you bring up the damn name? Okay, either he's trying to buy time, or just...wow.

"Whatever, and I see that your teammate is able to slip her soul into an opponent, very clever but dangerous. Anything that happens to Kin happens to her." Kin must be the name of the female ninja who Ino had taken over. "So if say Kin were to die…" He trailed off. Kumiko silently gasped.

"Neji, we have to do something!" She urgently said. Would this guy really kill his own teammate? Neji nodded beside her, understanding that the situation was rather dire.

"What are you going to do? Kill your teammate?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Well if push comes to shove, yeah." The male ninja whose face wasn't covered said. Shikamaru scowled, but then let out a breath of air.

"Aw man, what a drag." He complained.

"Yeah, no kidding." Chōji agreed.

"Did you really think you could beat us?" The uncovered ninja asked. "Face it, you ninja are just a bunch of hacks."

"From a second rate village." The one whose face was covered added. That angered both Neji and Kumiko to finally intervene.

"Huh, that's pretty tough talk." Neji stated, with his arms crossed. Kumiko glared down at them as she lifted her nose into the air, slightly turning away from them with her eyes closed for extra effect.

"I guess that makes _your_ village third rate." She added. "I wonder if any of you amateurs are ready to take on the real things." The two sound ninja looked surprised at their appearances.

"What?!" The one who was covered snapped. Kumiko's just gonna call him Cover, and the other one, NoCo, for No Cover. Everyone also looked surprised at their appearance as they turned to look.

"It's Kumiko and Neji." Sakura said, a bit of hope in her voice. "I wondered when they'd get here." Kumiko's eyes looked over to where Lee was laying.

"Lee." She said, worry in her voice.

"You blew it." Neji said in a deadly voice, angered at them hurting his comrade. "It looks to me like somebody used our teammate as a punching bag." He widened his eyes, using his byakugan. "No one does that and gets away with it!" He glared. "No more playing around, Kumiko. Full power." Kumiko nodded and got out a kunai, but then Neji gasped quietly.

"What's the matter?" She asked, confused. He didn't say anything. "Neji?" He was staring at Cover.

"Well?" Cover asked. "Are you going to stay up there all day, or are you going to come down here and do something about it?" Neji took a few seconds, then smirked.

"Actually, it looks like it may have been taken out of my hands." He stated, making Kumiko give him a confused look. Dammit Neji, why do you always have to act like this? She glanced back down, but then gasped as she saw the purple aura coming off of Sasuke. Was that his chakra? Why was it visible?

Suddenly though, there was a loud crash, and Sasuke was getting up.

"Sasuke!" Sakura said happily. "You're awake-" She stopped and gasped though when she noticed the power that was radiating off him. Kumiko's mouth dropped a little. What was going on?

"Sakura." Sasuke spoke. Or at least, it sounded like Sasuke. The aura around him, definitely wasn't his normal one. "Who did this to you? Who was it?" Sakura seemed hesitant to answer. Kumiko hoped she wouldn't. By the look of Sasuke, he was out for blood.

"Sasuke, w-what's happened to you?" Sakura questioned. Kumiko wondered too. There were these strange markings on the left half of Sasuke's body. If they were meant to symbolize something, she couldn't tell.

"Don't worry. I'm alright." Sasuke told her. "It's only the power running through me. In fact, I've never felt better. He gave me this gift, and he made me understand who I am. I'm an avenger. To follow my path I must have the power, at any price, even if it means being consumed by evil."

Who was this 'he' Sasuke was talking about? What happened while they were all separated?

"Sakura, tell me. Which one of these people did this to you?" Sasuke asked again. NoCo stupidly told him that is was he who did it. Sasuke turned to glare at him.

"Ino!" Shikamaru yelled. "Hurry up and get back in your body! You don't want to get involved in this!" He and Ino's body were hiding in a bush. "You too Chōji! Come on, get out of there!

"I'm coming!" Chōji said as he began heading over there. Kumiko jumped down and ran over to them.

"You guys okay?" She asked, checking over them for injuries.

"We're fine Kumiko." Ino said with a nod, but then glanced at the clearing. "I don't think the same could be said for Team 7 though."

"Dosu, what's wrong? You getting cold feet?" NoCo asked Cover. Oh, so _that's_ his name!

"No! Zaku, you don't understand!" Dosu shouted at NoCo. Oh, so that's _his_ name too!

Zaku didn't listen. "Watch this, I'll take care of the bunch of them in one whole swoop! Super Sonic Splicing Wave!" The wave attacked everyone, making them all cover their ears, and a huge light appear. Ino had thrown herself into Kumiko's arms, trying to block out the waves, but wasn't very successful. When it died down, Zaku was panting. "Huh, well what do you know, blew them all away!"

"Not quite." Sasuke said, who had appeared besides Zaku. He then whacked Zaku on the side of the head, which sent him flying.

"Take Ino, Shikamaru." Kumiko ordered, moving Ino away from her, and into Shikamaru's arms, who was a bit hesitant to take her. Kumiko quickly jumped back over to where Neji was after checking on how Chōji was doing.

"You okay?" She quietly asked. He nodded and asked the same to her. "I'm fine, but there's something wrong Sasuke."

He knew what she meant. Sasuke was quick. Maybe just as quick as Lee, possibly even faster, which was definitely saying something. Sasuke began doing hand signs.

"Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" With that, a bunch of fire was sent towards Zaku. He tried using his sound waves to put out the fire, but Sasuke was one step ahead, and had shuriken in the fire, which almost hit Zaku. Sasuke was able to get behind Zaku while he was distracted, and twisted both his arms back, and put on foot on Zaku's back, so that if he wanted, he could easily break Zaku's arms.

"You seem to be very proud of these arms of yours." Sasuke noted, rather darkly. Kumiko felt her bottom lip tremble a bit as she watched him, for once in her life, terrified of someone who she thought was going to be an ally in the long run. Who was this kid? "You must be very _attached_ to them." Zaku turned his head to look at Sasuke.

"No, what are you doing?!" He shouted. Sasuke began pulling the arm up. Kumiko gasped when she heard a sick crack. He broke the guys arm, just like that! Then, he did it to the other, and when Zaku gave out a cry, he pushed him onto the ground.

Sasuke turned to look at Dosu with a smirk. "It looks like you're the only one left." Dosu was shaking and trying to breathe after what he just witnessed. "I hope you make things more interesting than what your friend did." He slowly began walking towards him.

"What's wrong with this kid?" Kumiko hissed to Neji, who looked just as concerned as she was. Sure, he didn't know Sasuke, and didn't care about him either, but there really was something wrong with this kid, and he didn't like it. The power, where did it come from?

"No!" Sakura screamed as she began running towards Sasuke. "Stop!"

"Sakura! Stay away from him! He's dangerous!" Kumiko shouted as she tried jumping down, but Neji held her back, worrying about what would happen if she got involved.

"Don't do it!" Sakura exclaimed as she hugged Sasuke's back, sobbing. "Stop, please." Kumiko paused in her struggling, her face horrified at what the pink haired girl was attempting to do. Did she really think he could be stopped like that? Was it really that simple?

But, it seemed like Sakura's plea for Sasuke to stop got to him. The marks began disappearing, and Sasuke fell over, Sakura softly saying his name.

"You're strong, Sasuke." Dosu said, taking out his scroll and putting it down in front of him. "Too strong. We can't hope to defeat you, the way you are now. We'll strike a deal. I give you this scroll and you let us go." Dosu began walking away, and picked up Zaku. "It seems we underestimated you, but at least we found out what we needed to know. For the moment, we're even. But if it should ever happen again, we meet in combat, I promise you, we won't run or hide." He then picked up Kin and began walking away.

"Wait!" Sakura shouted, making Dosu pause, and turn back to look at her. "Who is this Orochimaru anyway? What's he done to Sasuke, and why Sasuke?"

Kumiko gasped as she heard the name. Orochimaru? Why was Sakura asking about him? As far as Kumiko knew, he was one of the three great Sannin, but is now a high ranked criminal. He did this to Sasuke? How?

"I don't know." Dosu said. "All I know is we were told to target Sasuke, and we did." Sakura didn't seem satisfied with that answer. "I don't know why he sent us to assassinate someone on who he bestowed such powers. I don't know why Sasuke even survived the curse mark. There are many things I don't know." With that, he turned and kept walking.

Kumiko frowned. The sound ninja were sent to assassinate Sasuke? Pretty sure they're not allowed to do that. It really sucks though, because the chunin exams are an easy way to do that, and get away with it.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Chōji shouted.

"Ino, you look after Lee and we'll check on the kid." Shikamaru ordered as he and Chōji ran to Naruto, and Ino to Lee. Kumiko didn't even hesitate to jump down to Lee.

"Ahhh!" They heard Naruto scream. Kumiko didn't care though, her focus was on Lee, who was being held up by Ino. "Everybody hide!" Naruto dropped onto the ground. "Quick! Get down! That ninja…where could she be hiding?"

"Naruto?" Sakura questioned as she and Sasuke turned around to look at him. Kumiko reached Lee and Ino, and slowly held her arms out.

"I'll take care of him now, Ino." She softly said. Ino nodded and gently set Lee in Kumiko's arms. She sighed as she stared at him, then-

_Whack!_

"Come on Lee! Pull it together!" She shouted, shaking him. Usually Lee responded to violence in his sleep, by waking up. She then dropped Lee on the ground, and he landed on all fours.

"Kumiko, is that you?" Lee asked as he looked up to her, one of his eyes swollen shut. "What are you doing here?" Kumiko crouched down to his side.

"I came to get ice cream." She answered rolling her eyes. "What do you think I'm here for?" Lee, still looking dazed, glanced around.

"Where are those sound ninja guys?"

"Sasuke took care of them." Kumiko softly answered, a bit tense as she thought of how. "Don't worry about it Lee." Lee looked surprised, then Kumiko frowned. "Just what were you thinking rushing in there all by yourself?! Look at you! You're a total mess!" Lee looked down shamefully.

"Well, Sakura was in trouble so, I had to do something, right?" He asked. Kumiko's eyes softened. Of course it was rather heroic of him, but also dumb. He had to know he didn't stand a chance against all three of those ninja by himself! He could handle the weak, but those sound ninja, were definitely not weak.

"That was pretty darn stupid, don't you think?" She asked. Lee sighed as he tucked his knees into his chest.

"Well, I guess I cannot really argue with that. I just wanted to be the hero for once." He answered. Kumiko felt her chest tighten as she heard him. The hero? What did he mean?

She put her hand on his head. "Lee-"

"Aha!" Naruto shouted as he ran over to them, pointing at Lee. Kumiko, angered at being interrupted, glared at the young boy. "I knew it was you Bushy Brow!" Bushy Brow? Kumiko couldn't help but snort in her hand at the nickname. Sakura, appeared out of nowhere, an angry look on her face.

"Hey!" She snapped, then punched Naruto. "You better not say anything bad about Lee!" Now Kumiko was actually giggling. Sakura turned to Lee. "Lee," They turned to look at her. "Thank you." Sakura smiled. "Because of you, I was able to stand up for myself, and I've become a little stronger."

They were silent for a second, until Lee made a whiny noise, and blushed, tears appearing in his eyes. Kumiko smiled softly at Sakura. Of course it takes a near death experience for someone to toughen up.

"Thank you Sakura," Lee said, rubbing at his eyes. "But I guess my efforts alone were not good enough." Kumiko sweatdropped, yeah, no shit. Lee then looked at Sasuke, who was standing beside Sakura. "So Sasuke, you are as good as your reputation. Just what you would expect from the Uchiha clan. To chase off those ninja, you must be very strong. Not like me, I just got beaten to a pulp."

Kumiko didn't pay attention to Sasuke's shocked face. She put her hand on Lee's back, trying to comfort him. Well, when you rush into things, assuming that's what he did since that's just how he is, you're pretty likely to be sloppy. Lee looked at Sakura again.

"Sakura," He said. "The lotus of the leaf village blooms twice." Sakura gasped, and Kumiko sweatdropped. Ah jeez Lee. Sakura made a confused sound. "When we meet again, I will have become a stronger ninja. I promise." Kumiko smiled softly at her friend. The things this kid says. Sakura gave a small chuckle.

"Hey Sakura," Ino called over. Everyone looked at her even though she only called for the pinkette. "Come on over here, I wanna fix your hair for you, okay?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." Sakura answered after pausing, a smirk appearing on her face.

Kumiko sweatdropped. Knowing those two girls, this wasn't a nice suggestion. They're probably going to talk about how Sakura hugged Sasuke. Kumiko turned back to Lee, and put her hand up to his cheek, and rubbed away some dirt that was there. Lee blushed lightly.

"Oh Lee, you're so reckless." She said, then grinned. "But it only shows how youthful you are." Lee grinned back, blushing a bit harder. She knew that'd make him feel better. Neji jumped down next to them, and put Lee's arm around his shoulders. Kumiko muttered his name.

"We should be going now." Neji told her. Kumiko nodded, then said farewell to the rookies, and they were off. "We should head straight to the tower now. The sooner we get there, the more time Lee will have to heal." Lee looked confused.

"Tower? I thought we needed to get the other scroll?" He questioned. Kumiko smiled, and held up both the scrolls that she was keeping hold of.

"Already done." She said with a grin. "Got it last night." Lee's eyes sparkled.

"Wonderful job! I knew you could do it!" He exclaimed. Kumiko nodded, and turned to Neji.

"How far away from the tower are we?" She asked. She knew he was using byakugan to search. He frowned.

"Not sure, it's out of my range, but Anko-sensei said that the tower was in the middle of the forest, so if we continue going this way, it'll eventually end up in my sight." He answered. Kumiko frowned too, but then nodded again. It's true.

And it really was. After two hours of them running, the tower was in sight, and they eventually reached it. Kumiko grinned. It was only 32 hours after they started the task, and the fact that there was a five day limit, made Kumiko feel good. After Neji did a quick check to see if anyone was around, and no one was, they headed into the tower.

They walked a bit, Neji setting Lee down so that he could also walk. Eventually, they ran into a door, which was closed. Kumiko peered at the paper next to it.

"If qualities of Heaven are what you lack," She started. "Then qualities of Earth are quite the knack." What? "When Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This…something, is the secret way that guides us from this place today."

"This…what?" Lee asked as he stared confused. Neji didn't seem confused, but Kumiko knew that he also didn't understand. Kumiko shrugged.

"I don't know. But, I think it's time we open the scrolls together. After all, it did say 'When Heaven and Earth are opened together'. It can't be anymore clearer than that." She told them. The two boys nodded. Kumiko handed Neji the Heaven scroll, while she kept the Earth one in her hand. Lee stood a bit to the side, but also close by. "Ready?" Neji nodded again. "Okay, let's do this."

With that, they opened the scrolls. The duo stared at the contents in confusion.

"What does this mean?" Kumiko questioned, feeling rather stupid.

"A man? Possibly a person?" Lee said as he peered over her shoulder. Suddenly, the scroll was ripped out of Kumiko's grasp. When she glanced up, it seemed it was Neji who had taken it from her. Said boy appeared tense as he threw the two scrolls a couple feet away.

"It's a summoning jutsu! Be on your guard!" He ordered, getting in a fighting stance. Kumiko, who didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening, blinked.

What?

There was a small explosion, and a lot of smoke appeared. Kumiko couldn't help but stare. After the smoke cleared up, the person who it summoned, was Gai-sensei.

"Hey kids!" He exclaimed, a proud grin on his face. "Congrats on passing the second exam! I knew you could do it!" Everyone just stared at him, and then Kumiko sank down to her knees and gave a deep sigh, understanding what he said.

"Oh thank the Gods, this is over!"

* * *

**Yay! Done with the second exam! Wooo! Now all that's left is the third exam which is going to be about 3-4 chapters I think. So, I have yet to reply to any reviews, and I'll do those this chapter.**

**TheAwesomeOne: Thank you for being my very first reviewer! I was so excited when I saw I got one! I absolutely adore Kakashi, and will try and incorporate him more in the story. Not anytime soon, but maybe later on as it progresses.**

**Glass Carousel: I'm glad you find my story interesting! Naruto is admittedly one of my favorite characters also, so I'm going to incorporate him into the story more when the preliminaries are over. I hope you'll enjoy it! Thank you for your review!**

**KlonoaDreams: I'm so happy you love Kumiko's father! Tbh, I based him off Haruhi's dad on Ouran High School Host Club, just because he's amazing. Thank you for your review! **

**k: Happy you find it funny! I try to keep many genres into my stories, comedy being a main because well, it's always fun reading hilarious stuff. Awesome that Team Gai is one of your favorites too! I hope you enjoyed the second half of last chapter, since that focused on Kumiko and Team Kurenai. I'm going to try and incorporate them in the story often too. I'm actually hoping to get everyone in my story often. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Lala: Thank you for being the 5th reviewer! I'm so glad you enjoy my story!**

**Rissa-channn: It seems everyone loves her dad XD Thank you for reviewing!**

**Miss Luny: That's a funny coincidence XD I actually chose that day as her birthday for a certain reason, but I'm not going to explain it for a little while. Awesome that you love my story, and here's the next update! Thank you for your review!**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's favorite food is any and every type of sushi.**

**Question: What Naruto ending is your favorite? (**Mine is Wind, which is the first ending.)


	9. Sasuke and Shino Prevail

That was three days ago. Thankfully, they were allowed to stay in the tower until the time limit was up. Lee had made a full recovery, and Kumiko was also able to rest herself. After Gai-sensei appeared, he told them that they were the third team to arrive. Kumiko wasn't surprised to see that Gaara and his team were already there, after all, they seem really strong. But, she was a bit surprised to see Team 8 there.

After she asked how they reached the tower before her team, Hinata explained that they took an Earth scroll from some team that they found, knocked out. Kumiko couldn't help but sweat-drop. So, they didn't even have to fight for it.

Eventually, more teams began showing up. Two of the teams, were Ino's and the sound village ninja, who Kumiko gave glares to whenever she saw them. Just twenty minutes ago, that Kabuto guy and his team appeared. The Hokage, along with jounin from the respective teams, and Anko, were there.

Neji gently elbowed Kumiko's side. "Seems like the time's up in ten minutes." He stated as he, Kumiko, and Lee stood around. Kumiko nodded, signifying that she knew. Everybody was gathered in the same room together; it appeared to have a giant statue of the upper half of a ninja doing a jutsu of sorts.

After a couple minutes, the doors slowly opened.

A blond haired boy and his team entered. "Hey everyone!" Naruto's loud boisterous voice came rushing throughout the room. Kumiko couldn't help but sweat-drop. So _all_ of the rookie 9 made it? Amazing. She kind of figured that Naruto's team wouldn't make it considering when she had last seen them, they were a total mess.

It seems that Naruto's shouts had gathered everyone's attention. "Pipe down Naruto." Sarutobi-sensei said, a small smile on his face as he noticed the young boy. Naruto's eyes widened at seeing the Hokage.

"What are you doing here old man?!" He shouted as he pointed towards the Hokage. Kumiko's own eyes widened as she quickly made her way over to him, and whacked him on the head. How disrespectful of him to call the Hokage 'old'!

"How dare you talk to the Hokage like that!" She reprimanded, leaning down to the boys face closely. "Have you no manners?" Naruto sat on the ground, a bump growing on his head.

"But Kumiko~" He mumbled, rubbing his head in pain. _Damn_, that girl sure could hit hard.

Sarutobi chuckled lightly as he watched the interaction between the two. "Now now, Kumiko, no need to beat Naruto for simply stating something." He noticed the slight tension in the room. "Everybody please calm down, and stand in rows of three." The Hokage ordered.

Everyone obeyed. Kumiko tensed as she ended up in between Sakura and the female sound ninja, Kin. Sure, that Kin lady was knocked out when Kumiko found them, but it doesn't mean she doesn't put her on edge. Glancing around, Kumiko bit her lip as she realized that only 7 out of the original 26 teams passed. That means that more than half, as Anko-sensei predicted, had failed.

A few seconds passed, until Anko began talking. "First, congratulations on finishing the second exam!" She exclaimed in an excited tone, amazed that this many people passed her exam. Honestly, she was expecting there to probably be three teams left. _These candidates this year sure are tough_, she thought with an amused look on her face.

The atmosphere was tense, until Chōji decided to complain that he was hungry. Kumiko had to grab Sakura's arm to keep herself from falling. Does this kid think of anything besides food?

"What a drag." She heard Shikamaru complain behind his buddy. "There's so many left, this is such a pain." Ino giggled as she noticed a certain dark haired boy brooding a couple people away from her.

"Sasuke and his team passed too." She cheered.

"Well of course they did." Shikamaru said, turning away in annoyance. Kumiko looked down to the ground, not knowing what to think. Obviously, Shikamaru was remembering about the strength boost that Sasuke had gained from when they were fighting off the sound ninja. She still didn't understand anything about it, and honestly, didn't want to.

Kumiko tuned the rest of them out. She noticed Gai-sensei talking to a silver haired man, whose face was covered for a majority, and had his headband covering his left eye. Kumiko couldn't help but giggle internally as she looked at the man. _So that's Kakashi-sensei, huh? Well, if I had to judge them on looks alone, I'd say Gai-sensei would lose. _Even though Gai-sensei had constantly talked about Kakashi, neither she nor her teammates had actually met him before. Personally, Kumiko thought Gai was making it up the whole time to boost his ego. Surprise surprise, he's actually real. Guess she owes Neji lunch when these exams are over.

"You watch, Gai-sensei," Lee said as he did randomly did a pose out of nowhere. "Someday I'll make you proud of me!" Kumiko patted him on the back while rolling his eyes. Was Gai-sensei the only person Lee ever thought about? Kumiko noticed Neji slightly glaring at Sasuke. Well, if the groups were to ever have a battle royal, she knew exactly who Neji would go for first.

"Hey look," Sakura said, glancing to the left of her. "All of the leaf ninja rookies are here too." Naruto was naming everyone who made it. He called Lee bushy brow again, making Kumiko snort. When he spoke her name, her chest heated up at the thought of actually being here with everyone. These people were tough, right? Well, they must be since they somehow made it through the second exam. And she's here with them? Does that mean she's tough too?

Kumiko noticed Sasuke clutching his left shoulder. Concerned, she leaned towards him.

"Hey kid, you okay?" She softly asked, so no one else could hear.

"I'm fine. I just don't have a very good feeling about this." Sasuke said, giving her a frown. She gave a frown back and leaned away. She didn't feel so hot either, but everything would be okay since there were several top jonin there, along with the Hokage himself. None of them would allow anything direly bad to happen...hopefully.

"Alright now pay attention, Hokage-sama is going to explain the third exam to you!" Anko ordered, bringing them all back to the current situation. "You better listen carefully maggots!"

Kumiko couldn't help but like Anko. She's so assertive.

"Hokage-sama, they're all yours."

Sarutobi-sensei chuckled at Anko, then nodded. He cleared his throat. "First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now, it's something all of you need to understand. I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams."

True purpose?

"Why do you think our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies?" He questioned. Kumiko sweat-dropped. Honestly, she didn't know why they were even allies with some of these people. The sand people were terrifying, and the sound ninja were sent to assassinate Sasuke! Why were they even allies with these people? They're all dangerous freaks!

Naruto made an 'I don't know' sound.

"To raise the ability levels of a shinobi, and increase friendship between allied nations to be sure." Sarutobi-sensei answered. "But it's important that you understand its true meaning. The exams are, so to speak,"

So to speak?

Sarutobi-sensei took a smoke on his pipe. "They are representations of the battle between allied nations." Kumiko, absolutely confused, leaned out a bit from behind Lee.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"Now, if we look at our history, all the countries that we're currently allied with, were once neighboring nations that continuously fought with each other for power." He answered. "In order to avoid destroying each other's military strength meaninglessly, those nations picked champions, to do battle on behalf of their countries, at a mutually selective location. That was how the chunin selecting exams, originally began."

"Aye, so much talking." Kumiko mumbled under her breath as she stood straight behind Lee again.

Naruto shifted, feeling a bit restless. "Well, that's great, but why do we have to go through the exams then?" He asked, squinting his eyes. "I mean, it's not like we're doing this to pick chunin to go fight."

"Well actually," Sarutobi-sensei began. "There is no question that part of these exams are to select shinobi that are worthy of being chunin. That's just not the whole story. These exams also a place where shinobi are allowed to carry the pride of their nations on their backs, and fight against other ninja for their very lives."

"The pride of their nation?" Sakura questioned out loud.

"Many leaders and people of prominence from various countries, are invited to attend this exam as guest, and also possibly to seek shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your ninja work, from here on out, and more importantly, those rulers will watch your battles, and take note of the strengths that each ninja, and each nation are developing. If there is a gap in power between the countries, the strong nations are inundated with job request for their ninja, and conversely, the request to countries that are weak, decline."

"So, basically this is just a way of showing off our power to strangers." Kumiko gathered. She tuned Sarutobi-sensei out, not very interested in what else he had to say.

"Okay so, but why does that mean we have to risk our lives?" Kiba demanded, snapping Kumiko back into what they were talking about. Okay, so apparently she wasn't able to tune them out very long. Man, she needed to work on that stuff.

"The countries strength is the village's strength. The village's strength is the shinobi's strength, and the true strength of the shinobi is only achieved when pushed to the limits, such as in a life and death battle. This exam is a chance for each nation to display the strength of its shinobi and hence, the strength of the nation itself. It's because this is an exam where your life is on the line, that it has meaning. And it's for this very reason, and for the strength of the nation, that your forerunners fought in this exam. It's truly a dream worth striving for."

Kumiko frowned. "But then why, did you use the expression 'friendship' before?" Honestly, this just seemed like a way of each country proving just whose ninjas were stronger.

"But you've only remembered half of what I said." Sarutobi-sensei continued, making Kumiko glare slightly. "You also mustn't have the wrong idea about the exams meaning. This is a custom in which the balance is preserved in fighting and dying. In the world of the shinobi, that _is_ friendship. The third exam is a fight for life, with the pride of your village and own dreams at stake."

Everyone remained quiet until Naruto spoke up.

"Huh, well he _sure_ convinced me."

That seemed to get the ball rolling. "Any test is fine, just tell me what the details of the exam are already." Gaara said. Kumiko fell over when she heard him speaking. That's probably the first time she's ever heard him say something. His voice was rather deep and dark sounding. She didn't like how he was speaking. It sounded like there was a malicious tint to it. "I can handle anything you throw at me."

Hearing everyone agree, Kumiko sighed heavily and waved her hand forward. "Yeah yeah, I guess I'm in too."

Sarutobi-sensei nodded, a hint of pride on his face as he looked at the leaf genin. "Very well then, now listen closely. I'm going to tell you exactly what you'll be doing on the first exam." A new person abruptly appeared in front of the Hokage.

He was bowing. "Hokage-sama, before you do, please allow me, Gekko Hayate, proctor of the third exam to speak first." He requested. The Hokage stared at him for a second.

"So be it." He replied. Hayate stood up, his back turned towards the genin.

"It's nice to meet you all," He began coughing. Kumiko rolled her eyes. This guy's sick but is still going to be a proctor? Wow. "There's something, I would like all of you," More coughing. "To do before the third exam."

Now he began a coughing fit. Ah jeez. Finally, he turned around to face them.

"Uh," He said, staring at them. Kumiko snorted. This guy looked like he wasn't quite sure on what to say. "We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move onto…the real one." Huh?

"What?"

"Preliminary?" Shikamaru shouted. "Just what do you mean by that?"

"I'm sorry," Sakura began. "Sensei, excuse me, but I really don't see the point. What's this preliminary all about? Why can't we just move to the third exam?" Honestly, Kumiko didn't want to have to deal with preliminaries either. Like is it really that hard to just accept the fact that so many people passed?

"Uh...," Hayate began. "Well you see, the first and second exams might have been too easy. The fact is, we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of the chunin exams, a preliminary round can be held at any stage in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining."

"Wow, shows how much they believe in us." Kumiko muttered to herself, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"But, is that fair?" Sakura questioned, ignoring what Kumiko said.

"It's just that at this stage we have to speed things up a bit." Hayate answered. "As Hokage-sama said, a lot of important guest will be watching, we can't afford to waste their time. They've come to see only the best. So if there are any of you who feel you're not in top physical condition, now's your chance to-"

He started coughing.

"Talk about not being in top physical condition." Kumiko mumbled, rolling her eyes. She was tired of waiting. She just wanted to go home and sleep. She was beginning to miss her father, and was getting sick of annoying people.

"This guy seems like he's going to cough his brains out." She heard Naruto whisper quietly. Kumiko rolled her eyes, once more, and crossed her arms.

"Sorry about that." Hayate apologized. "As I was saying, any of you who don't feel up to this, now's the time for you to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately."

"Come on! You mean right now?!" Kiba snapped.

"We barely survived the last exam." Ino whined, agreeing with Kiba's words of protest. "Don't we get a break?"

"Man what a drag." Shikamaru complained.

"Ehh, when do we eat?" Chōji questioned.

There was a small part of Kumiko that wanted to quit now. Of course, she wouldn't make it to chunin this year, but there's always next time. Of course Lee and Neji are going through with the preliminaries. They're both much stronger than her, and can handle the pressure.

Although...if they were to pass, and she didn't, she'd regret it the rest of her life, so of course she's not _really_ going to quit. Besides, knowing her luck, she'll lose in the preliminaries. At least she can say she tried.

"Oh yeah uh," Hayate continued, ignoring the rookie's protesting. "The winners will be determined by one on one combat; sudden death. So like I said, if there's anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now's the time to raise your hand." Kumiko barely noticed Sasuke grab at his shoulder in pain. She didn't really pay attention to it though, her mind was stuck on the combat.

Depending on who she's up against, she can most likely beat the sound ninja, and any of Team 10, along with Sakura. She definitely wouldn't be any match against Neji and Lee, or Sasuke and possibly Naruto. She wouldn't really have the heart to fight Hinata, and she could probably take down Shino and Kiba if she really tried. The only people she would have to worry about is the sand team, since she doesn't know any of their powers, and Kabuto's team, since she also doesn't know any of _their_ abilities.

Do they even pair team members against each other?

Slowly, someone's hand went in the air. It was Kabuto's.

"Okay, you got me," He smiled as if he made a joke. "I'm out." Everyone stared at him. Why? He didn't look too damaged from the fighting from the previous event.

Hayate stared for a second, then flipped through the clipboard in his hand. He gave a cough. "Yakushi Kabuto of the leaf village, right? Okay, you can go on and step back." Yakushi? Where was that name from? Surely he wasn't in a clan since she didn't recognize the name. And he was just quitting, after coming this far? That doesn't make sense.

"Gotcha." Kabuto said as he started turning away.

"Kabuto!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hold on a second, you can't quit! I don't get this, what's going on?" Kabuto turned to look at him. Kumiko didn't care though, as she tuned them out.

Personally, she didn't care that he quit. It's not like he was someone who she was friends with, or even planned on making friends with. It's actually much better that he's quitting, so that there's 20 people now, and it's even. Maybe that's why he quit. After all, he's failed before, and he can always retake it again. Of course, they _all_ could retake it if they failed, but she's already put too much effort in. There's no way she will easily drop out like that.

After Kabuto exited the room, everyone was quiet. Or at least, until Hayate coughed, gathering everyone's attention. Kumiko rolled her eyes. Was he contagious or is this just a personal sickness?

"Now then," He began. "Does anybody else, wanna quit?" Kumiko noticed Sakura, about to raise her hand. She glanced at the young girl curiously. Yes, Sakura is very weak, physically, and she's still beaten from the second challenge, but was she still going to give up that easily? She scowled when she saw Sasuke grab her wrist, stopping her. Who the hell was he to stop her?!

"Don't you even think of telling them about this mark!" Sasuke hissed. Kumiko's mouth opened a tiny bit as she realized that's what Sakura was going to do. That's right, the mark. Sasuke's mark had some strange power to it. It's possible he could really injure someone if he channeled into its power. Sakura made a gasping noise, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Kumiko looked away, deciding that what they were going to talk about, wasn't any of her business. She didn't care, after all. Sasuke was nobody to her. He could disappear, and she wouldn't mind it. Maybe it'd be better if he did. Sakura and Ino could hopefully quit obsessing over him, and finally focus on making themselves stronger. Naruto would get stronger too, seeing as how Sasuke _is_ his rival…right?

"Alright then," Hayate continued, seeing as how nobody else was saying anything. "We'll now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one on one, individual combat. At full battle intensity, this is not an exercise. There are twenty of you remaining, so that means we will need ten matches. The surviving candidates from these ten matches, will advance to the third exam."

Kumiko tensed as she heard the word, 'surviving'. Does he honestly expect some of them to die?

"As for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one dies or concedes defeat." Let's just hope it's the latter. "Or is rendered physically capable of continuing the contest." Or that one. "Naturally, those who are losing are urged to concede defeat promptly to avoid a fail outcome. Furthermore, as proctor, I'm given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless, to save as many lives as possible."

Wow, these exams must get pretty serious…

"Now it's time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you." Hayate looked at Anko, who nodded and turned to look a bit behind her.

"Open the panel." She ordered in her microphone. The top left panel behind the statue opened.

"The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely random. Before each match, these names will appear on the display behind me. As there's nothing more to say, let's begin." Hayate spoke. "In a moment, the names of the first two opponents will appear."

Kumiko gulped, here it goes. Hopefully she wasn't in the first the fight. She was honestly hoping it'd be two strong people. After all, it'd be a good way to start a bunch of rounds. Surely they'll get boring as time goes by. Her eyes widened a bit at the first names that popped up.

_Akado Yoroi VS. Uchiha Sasuke_

She had to assume Yoroi was one of the guys in Kabuto's team, seeing as how they were the only team whose names she didn't know. She frowned as she noticed the smirk on Sasuke's face. Of course he's the bloody first one to go!

No one said a word.

"Alright now," Hayate said. "Those whose names have been drawn, come forward." Sasuke and the Yoroi guy did that. "You have been chosen for the first match." He repeated their names. "Are there any objections?"

"Not here."

"No."

There was no doubt in her mind that Sasuke was going to win this round. Even though Kumiko didn't know the powers of Yoroi, Sasuke was too strong for her to think otherwise.

"Uh, alright then, let's begin the first match. Okay everyone other than the two opposing candidates, will now clear the area and move to the upper level." Hayate told them. They all began doing so. Kumiko was walking a bit next to Lee, behind Neji.

"The first match is Sasuke, huh?" Lee said as he turned to look at Kumiko, who nodded. "I believe he will win. He is quite strong."

"If you say so." She muttered, staring at Sasuke, who ignored everyone around him. "He's a bit _too_ strong, if you ask me."

When everyone made themselves comfortable on the top level, Kumiko snorted as she realized all the teams were separated. Technically, they didn't have to be, but it did make a bit of sense. Although, they were next to Kakashi's team, who were next to Kurenai's team. When everyone was up on the top balcony, the tension downstairs grew.

"Alright, well then, let's begin." Hayate said. Yoroi wasted no time as he immediately shot off towards Sasuke. They struggled for a bit, until Yoroi knocked Sasuke down, and planted his hand on said boys forehead.

They went silent for a couple seconds as Sasuke struggled to break loose. "What the-, my chakra! What are you doing?!" Sasuke questioned. Kumiko leaned over the railing, trying to get a good look. Since they were so close together, it was kind of hard to see what exactly was happening. "My chakra! You're stealing it from me!"

Oh, so the guy's a chakra stealer. Wonder how many of those there are. Sasuke made a gargled noise, but then kicked Yoroi off him. It seemed he was struggling to get up. The fight hasn't been going on long, and it already seemed Sasuke was tired. Naruto gave an irritated growl.

"Hey Sasuke!" He shouted. "Come on man! What was that?! And you call yourself an Uchiha!" Sasuke turned around to give him a rude look. "You're gonna let that dude just walk all over you! Come on! Stop messing around and get it in gear!"

"I'll teach you to turn your back on me!" Yoroi snapped as he re-gathered everyone's attention. "Big mistake, and your last!" He began throwing punched towards Sasuke, who was able to avoid them. But then, it seemed like Sasuke disappeared. Where'd he go-

_Oh_, there he is.

Sasuke had appeared under Yoroi and kicked him straight up. _Wait_, why does that move seem familiar? The kick sent him flying. Kumiko's eyes widened as she realized why his move looked so familiar to her. That was _Lee's_ move! It seemed that Lee had realized to too, as he made a face of awe.

Everyone else was also amazed at Sasuke's kick. Kumiko tuned the fighting out as she bit her lip. How was Sasuke able to do that? Think Kumiko, think. Oh yeah, that's right, he's an Uchiha! They have the Sharingan, which allows them to copy other people's moves! So this kid already unlocked his? Huh, makes her wonder how. Didn't that usually happen when they're experiencing a huge spurt of anger? Ehh, she's not an Uchiha, so it doesn't really matter to her.

"Ahh!" Sasuke's scream brought her back to reality. She noticed that the markings were slowly reappearing on him. Why? Was it because he was using so much chakra? Almost as soon as they appeared, they disappeared, almost as if they were never there in the first place.

The fight continued. Eventually, Sasuke was able to kick Yoroi in the gut. It was a move he called 'Lion's Barrage'. Sasuke was sent skidding across the ground while Yoroi was in one place. It seemed like both of them were knocked out. But then Sasuke began making a noise as he tried getting up. It was silent for a couple seconds.

"I'm declaring this match over." Hayate said as he looked at the two competitors. "As the winner of this preliminary round, Uchiha Sasuke advances to the finals."

"Way to go!" Naruto cheered with a huge grin on his face, as Sakura smiled. Kumiko frowned as she looked away. So he won, congrats.

Sasuke almost passed out, but Kakashi appeared behind him and held him up.

"Hm, not bad." Kakashi said. "Funny, before the Lion's Barrage, your technique was very reminiscent of Gai's taijutsu. You must have used your Sharingan to copy it when you fought with Rock Lee that time." Yup, Kumiko knew it.

"You okay?" Naruto called down to his friend. He was quite giddy. "Hey Sasuke, you won but in such an uncool way! You're the one who came out looking like _he_ got beat up!"

That didn't sit well with Sasuke as he said, "Idiot. Give me a break ya little-..., oh well." Kumiko rolled her eyes. The only reason this kid was able to win was because he had stolen Lee's technique. She noticed Lee seemed a bit nervous as he looked down. Neji was staring Sasuke down, obviously thinking of his own power. Hmm, was that a bit of jealousy in Neji's eyes?

She stared at Neji. Last year, he was known as the rookie to beat, but this year it's definitely Sasuke. She couldn't help but wonder just _who_ was stronger between the both of them.

Yoroi was being carried out on a stretcher by the medical-nin. "Uchiha Sasuke," One of them said as he approached the boy. "Maybe you should come along to the infirmary too and let us treat your injuries."

"I think you're out of your league with this one." Kakashi said as he looked up from his book. Kumiko couldn't help but bang her head against the rail as she realized the sensei was reading a dirty book. Right. In. Public. "I'll look after him. Okay, up ya go, you're coming with me."

The two shared some words, but Sasuke eventually agreed, and got up. Kakashi walked him out, and everyone watched. Kumiko noticed he was holding his hand over his shoulder. The mark. Was Kakashi going to do something to fix it? _Could_ he even fix it?

Hayate walked to the middle of the room. "Uh, okay then. Let's move onto the second match." The panel thing turned on again, and the names were flying through it. Finally, it landed on a pair.

_Aburame Shino VS Abumi Zaku_

Zaku? Wasn't that one of the sound ninja? In fact, if her memory was correct, it was the one with the broken arms. Well than, looks like Shino has this one in the bag.

"Ha!" Zaku said, then looked over at the kids. "Which sucker is that?" Kumiko glared at him as she noticed Shino uncomfortably hide half his face in his cloak. Hayate coughed.

"Step forward please." He said, and Shino and Zaku did do it. "Very good, now if you're both ready, then we'll begin."

Kumiko, noticing the tension, smiled lightly. "Don't worry Shino, you got this!" She called down to him with a thumbs up. Shino didn't say anything as he turned to her, and put his hand up, signifying that he heard her, and was giving her his thanks.

"Candidates ready?" Hayate questioned as he began taking steps back. No one said anything. "Begin." The tension was growing, until Shino spoke.

"If you fight me, you won't be able to recover." He warned. Kumiko sweatdropped, wondering just what the boy had in mind. Honestly, Shino does seem kinda scary to fight. He uses bugs, and each bug has a certain purpose, whether it be deadly or helpful. "Forfeit, and withdraw."

Zaku pulled out his left arm from the sling. Oh, so apparently that one healed. "One good arm's more than enough to beat you!" Kumiko sighed as she turned away. Basically, Shino had this one in the bag.

After a couple minutes, Shino, as predicted, won. He had plugged up Zaku's wind pipes on his hands, and they exploded, which had rendered them useless. Shino was able to sneak behind him, and punched him, knocking Zaku onto the floor. He was groaning in pain as Hayate stared down at him, checking the damage.

"I'd say this one has had it." He said. "The winner is Aburame Shino." Kumiko internally cheered for him. Neji quickly jerked back, absolutely stunned by Shino's performance.

"Wait!" Lee exclaimed to Neji, also in awe. "How did he do that? Who is he? Find out!" Kumiko sweatdropped at the duo. Neji used his byakugan on Shino. He gasped.

"I have no idea." He said stunned. "I thought he must be using a summoning jutsu to get all those insects, but no, they're actually living _inside_ of him." Lee jerked his head suddenly.

"Living inside of him?!" He shouted. Kumiko turned to them and rolled her eyes.

"There's a legend in the Leaf Village of a clan of insect tamers," She began. After all, she knew of this info thanks to personally asking Shino about it a few weeks ago.

"Yes, I've heard of that clan as well." Neji cut in as he stared down at Shino. Kumiko nodded, a slight frown on her face from being cut off, and stared down at Shino. Said boy began walking back up to the waiting area, greeting his teammates.

"They say that when a bug master is born, he enters into a sacred pact with the insects. He allows them to nest in his body, and in return they obey their hosts will. They serve him, answering his call, fighting his battles and destroying his enemies." Kumiko continued.

"I've also heard that they allow the insects to feed off their chakra as part of the bargain." Neji added. Lee, understanding what they were saying, also looked down to Shino, who was staring at the field, waiting for the next match to begin.

"So this guy is one of them?" He questioned. "One of these bug tamers?"

Kumiko nodded and looked back to Shino. "I could be wrong, but I believe he's going to be the next head of the Aburame clan. They only allow bug masters as their leaders."

Neji frowned. "Yes, it would seem that way." Kumiko could hear a slight bitterness in his tone. She glanced at him ever so slightly, wondering what she said to make him feel that way.

"Man that Shino is good!" Naruto exclaimed as he leaned over the railing. Kumiko jumped at the sudden sound. Does this kid have volume control or not?! "Who would have thunk it with him being so quiet! I can't wait to get my shot at him!"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Kumiko snorted as she rolled her eyes. A small part of her doubted that Shino would ever willingly fight Naruto.

"Uh, alright everyone, moving right on to the third match." Hayate said. The panel began shuffling names again. Kumiko tensed up a bit. Names were being thrown around and yet hers hasn't been called yet. And it still wasn't.

_Tsurugi Misumi VS. Kankuro_

* * *

**Finished! Yay so, we're finally getting to the fighting which is going to be like 4 chapters long, including this one, so 3 more. I know I kind of abruptly cut it off with this match, but the chapter was getting a bit too long. I'm not going to focus on certain fights, as you can tell with the Shino and Sasuke ones, how short they were. **

**Lala: Kumiko's special abilities are taijutsu (like how Lee is), weapons, (she can't use a summoning charm for them like Tenten, she's just got really good aim/speed/ keeps a ton of weapons in her bag) and her Ninja Voodoo Jutsu (where she can use her doll to control someone if they willingly give it back to her {Explained at the end of Chapter 3}). She'll eventually get new jutsu's. I hope this satisfied your question ^.^ **

**Fun Fact: Kumiko is terrible with genjutsu, which is why she never uses it.**

**Question: Which jutsu type is your favorite? **(Honestly, I like Taijutsu out of the three. It's just more physical and easier to learn than Ninjutsu or Genjutsu)


	10. Kumiko VS Temari

She had no clue who either person was. Although, since she had no clue who either was, that most likely meant one of them was a sand ninja, and the other from Kabuto's team. Oh and look at that. She was correct, seeing as how the cat boy and other member of Kabuto's team began walking to the ground level.

"Oi, Naruto, which one's Kankuro?" Kumiko questioned as she glanced at the blond boy nearby. "Is he the cat boy?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I don't really like him though." He answered, remembering how the boy had handled Konohamaru the other day. She nodded in thanks and stood beside Neji. So _that's_ what his name was! Now all she needed to know was the blonde girl's name, and she'll be all set.

A few words were exchanged between the two shinobi who were about to fight, and then Kankuro set down the wrapped looking thing that was on his back. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of jutsu he was planning on using. Maybe it has something to do with the thing that was on his back.

"Alright then, if you're ready, let the third match begin." Hayate said.

Kankuro smirked. "Let me do you a favor and end this battle quickly." He spoke to his opponent. Kumiko frowned. Jeez, was everyone at this exam super cocky?

"You can't end it if I end it first." Misumi, Kabuto's teammate and Kankuro's opponent, stated. After that, he ran towards Kankuro, and tried hitting him, but Kankuro blocked it. Her eyes widened as Misumi's arm started growing and coiling around Kankuro's body.

"Whoa!" She and Naruto said in unison as they leaned over the railing.

"What's up with that guys body?!" Naruto exclaimed. "That's freaky. I wish I could do that!" Kumiko stared at the young boy for a couple seconds, then took two steps back. This kid is freaky. Who would want to do something like that? It's odd.

Misumi explained it was from him dislocating his joints and softening his chakra. Kumiko didn't understand how he was softening chakra. Kankuro was struggling.

"You fool, you're the one who's gonna die here." Kankuro stated after some words were spoken between the two. The next moment, made Kumiko's heart drop. There was a slight crack, and Kankuro's head was bent over. Did he just kill the guy?!

"I think he broke…his neck." Lee quietly spoke. Kumiko put her hands up to her mouth in horror.

"What's the big deal?" Gaara could be heard saying. Kumiko looked at him with wide eyes. What?! Your teammate just died, and all you can say it _that_?!

Misumi began laying Kankuro's body down, but some stuff, that oddly looked like wood, was falling from Kankuro's face. His head picked up, and turned around. Kumiko latched onto the railing as she noticed that his left eye, was fake. Actually, his whole face was fake. It'd be safe to assume all of him was fake.

"Now, it's my turn, so say good-bye." The fake Kankuro stated, making Kumiko shiver. Suddenly, the thing transformed, and wrapped its arms around Misumi. Kumiko was shaking a bit as she watched. This guy was kind of scary. But, that thing, it's a puppet, which made it slightly more interesting to her. After all, her jutsu is kinda like puppetry also.

The battle continued, and it turns out that the thing that Kankuro was carrying on his back, was the _actual_ Kankuro. Kankuro was able to win eventually by squeezing Misumi with his puppet, which caused said guy to pass out from most likely, lack of oxygen.

"Because his opponent is unable to continue, the winner is Kankuro." Hayate said. Kumiko stared down at the puppet user. Just who was this guy? Their battle was very short, probably the shortest out of the ones that had already happened.

Naruto didn't seem satisfied. "Two against one is hitting below the belt, isn't it?" He asked his sensei. "I mean, is that thing even fair, Kakashi-sensei?"

"It's not really two against one, it's a puppet. Not another ninja." Kakashi told his student. Kumiko tuned them out and turned to look at Neji.

"I think that's another one we ought to watch out for." She mumbled to him. He nodded and glared down at Kankuro.

"I agree. His battle was quick. He must be quite powerful, or at least smart." He stated. Sakura had excused herself to the restroom, and Ino followed suit afterwards. Oh great, they're probably going to get into it. Maybe she should go too…

Nah.

"It's kind of creepy though, how he had his actual body in that thing the whole time." Kumiko said. Naruto, overhearing turned to look at her and nodded with squinty eyes.

"I know right. I wonder if he sleeps like that too." He wondered. Kumiko sweatdropped. Yes. Because everyone would rather let a puppet sleep in their bed then their actual selves. Actually, this guy seems pretty weird, so maybe he does.

Eventually, Sakura and Ino came back, and Sakura seemed renewed. Kumiko couldn't help but wonder what went on in the bathroom. No new marks in either of them, which meant they didn't get in a physical fight, so that's good.

"Now let's continue." Hayate said as everyone turned to look at the panel again. "It's time to begin the fourth battle." The names started running through it.

"Well, no matter who it picks, it'll be two weirdos. This contest is full of them." Naruto stated, making Kumiko narrow her eyes at the kid.

"Um, one of those weirdos who already fought is your teammate." She hissed. Naruto frowned.

"Yeah but that's different." He told her, making her leer at him.

"Well, you're one to talk." Kakashi said, making Kumiko smile at the jounin. She liked him, he's cool. Sakura agreed, and Naruto denied it. The panel made a sound, indicating it picked some. Kumiko's eyes widened at the irony in it.

_Haruno Sakura VS Yamanaka Ino_

"Guys, prepare." Kumiko said as she grabbed both Neji and Lee by the arms. "Armageddon's about to begin."

At first, Sakura seemed horrified with the picking, and then so did Ino. But, they got over it, and walked down to the fighting level.

To be honest, the only interesting thing that happened during the fight was Ino cutting her hair, and using it as a path in her mind jutsu to get to Sakura. In the end, neither of them won, with it resulting in a draw, and both of them being eliminated.

Kakashi and Asuma went down there to pick up their kunoichi, who were both knocked out.

"Hey, Ino!"

"Sakura, no!"

Kakashi and Asuma put the two knocked out girls next to each other against the wall, and people began crowding them. Kumiko was crouching down in between Lee and Shikamaru so she could put her hands on both the girl's legs.

"You both were brilliant, but very dumb." She mumbled as she smiled softly at the two, even though they didn't know what was going on.

"I don't think that will be necessary, they'll both wake up after a little while." Asuma spoke. "But they both certainly put up a great fight." Kakashi agreed and Kumiko snorted.

"Yeah, but only because they decided to quit letting their feelings get in the way." She stated.

"Let's begin the selecting for Round 5." Hayate said, and everyone dispersed, making their way back to their spots. The panel went through picking out names, until it finally landed on a pair.

"Oh shit." Kumiko muttered.

_Rabu Kumiko VS Temari_

Temari? That's got to be the pretty blonde's name! Damn! Pretty looks _and_ a pretty name?! That's not fair! Kumiko glanced at her teammates and sensei, who all gave her reassuring looks.

"I'm going to die." She mumbled quietly as she began making her way down to the fighting area. She and Temari were standing in front of each other. Temari had a frown and Kumiko did too. This girl seemed like she was a year or two older than her, and was carrying something on her back. Did all sand ninja carry things on their back?

"So, this is another genin from the sand village?" Neji could be heard asking. "This should be interesting to watch."

"Go Kumiko!" Lee shouted as he waved his arms in the air. Kumiko couldn't help blushing. "Alright!"

To say Kumiko was nervous, would be an understatement. But, she did her best to hide it.

"Begin." Hayate said. The two girls stared at each other for a second. Kumiko frowned as she realized that this girl didn't seem stupid enough to fall for her ninjutsu, so she'd have to rely on either her weapons or taijutsu, which wasn't exactly the best. She jumped a couple feet back.

"Alright Kumiko! Keep her guessing!" Lee shouted.

"Go for it! You've got the power of youth!" Gai also screamed. Kumiko sweatdropped at hearing the two of them. The two continued their cheering, which was annoying the surrounding people. She looked at the distance between her and Temari. If Temari was to use a weapon, Kumiko would probably be able to block it thanks to the distance, but at the same time, Temari would be able to block hers.

Temari definitely wasn't a taijutsu user, seeing as how she had that thing that looked absolutely heavy on her back. The duo stared at each other for a minute. Just wait and see what the older girl uses.

"What are you waiting for?" Hayate questioned. "I did say to begin."

"Ha! Guess she's waiting for me to make a move. Big mistake." Temari said with a smirk. "Cause the first move I make will be the last one you see." Kumiko narrowed her eyes. "Come on, I don't want this match to be over too quickly, so why don't you do first. Come on girl, show me what you got."

"Well, okay, if you insist." Kumiko stated. She jumped up and threw some of her shuriken at her. Absolutely none of them hit her, making Kumiko's eyes widen. "I missed her?! There's just no way!"

"What was that? A warm up exercise? Or maybe you're a little nervous and it's affected your aim. Is that it?" Temari taunted. Kumiko shook her head, confused. There's no way her aiming was off! She scowled.

"Fine! Then you've asked for it." Kumiko hissed, and discarded her bag onto the ground. "But don't say I didn't-" She didn't even finish her sentence before speedily running over to Temari. Apparently her weapons weren't going to work, so might as well go for her taijutsu.

Temari, a bit caught off guard from the sudden movement, was barely able to block the kick coming towards her head. The two girls' faces were mere inches apart as they stared directly at each other. Temari grinned and shoved Kumiko's leg away.

"Oh, now you've got some actual spunk!" She laughed. Kumiko began throwing punches, all of which Temari was able to dodge. Kumiko bit her lip in annoyance. She's slightly faster than Temari, but not enough so that she can continuously land hits. Amazingly, she was able to get one in, which hit Temari right in the chest.

Said girl, bent over trying to get air. Kumiko grinned and brought out her weapons, and jumped a few steps back, and then threw the kunai. Sadly, Temari was able to dodge them, again. Kumiko frowned, and ran up to her again, trying to knock her on her butt. But, this time as Kumiko threw a punch, Temari caught it, and snapped her wrist, making Kumiko yelp in pain. That brat just broke her wrist! She glared at the older blonde, and tried kicking her, but it was kind of hard since her broken wrist put her off balance.

Temari was able to jump back and get a good distance between them. Kumiko sighed before also jumping back. Apparently, she was now punch-less, so the only thing left for her to use, was her weapons. She grabbed them and threw them at her, but once again, she was able to dodge them, but this time, Kumiko saw how.

The thing that Temari was carrying on her back, was a giant fan, and it's able to blow her weapons away, which basically left her weapons also useless. Basically, everything on her, was useless. Maybe she could try using her doll-

Suddenly though, she was picked up by a huge gust of wind, making her freak out, seeing as how there was nothing in the air for her to grab onto. Temari freakin used her fan to throw her up! What the hell?! Sadly, Kumiko began panicking, and when she hit the ground, she landed on her bad wrist, making her scream loudly from the pain.

"Kumiko!" Lee screamed in horror when he heard the sound of his comrade. Never before had any of them heard that escape the young girl. Neji just stared down at the battlefield, rather disappointed in his comrade for appearing so weak.

Kumiko stared up as Temari walked over to her, and stood over her, with a grin on her face.

"How sad, guess you really weren't that great of an opponent." She berated. Kumiko's eyes narrowed, and she yanked her leg towards Temari, who was caught off guard, and fell down. Kumiko tried pulling herself up, but it was kind of hard to do.

Angry, she kicked Temari once more in the leg, then fell back down. Her legs had had enough. Temari, also angry for being caught off guard, jumped up, and kicked Kumiko back, right in the gut. Kumiko hissed in pain as she wrapped one of her arms, the one with the good wrist, around her stomach.

"I give up." Kumiko stated as she stared up at Temari, who was glaring like hell at the young girl. If they didn't stop now, this was most likely going to turn into a petty fight.

"The fight is over. Temari is the winner of the fifth round." Hayate stated.

But, Temari didn't want to stop, as she kicked Kumiko again, this time on the same wrist she broke earlier. Kumiko screamed as she felt so much pain in the one spot, and Lee jumped down to help her.

"Kumiko!" He shouted as he reached her, and quickly lifted her to keep her away from Temari, and he took a few jumps back. Temari, annoyed, scowled.

"I wasn't done with her." She snapped.

"What is wrong with you?!" Lee exclaimed as he held Kumiko's head up from the ground. She looked up at him and frowned. _Just leave it alone Lee, I've already_ _lost._ "She may have lost but that is no way to treat an opponent who has done her best!"

"Oh beat it!" Temari snapped. "And take that sack of garbage with you!" Lee made an angry sound, and next thing Kumiko knew, she felt her head land on the ground, and Neji yell for Lee to stop.

"Leaf Hurricane!" She heard Lee shout. Her eyes widened and she picked head up to see what was happening. Temari had blocked Lee's kick with her fan.

"Not even close." Temari smirked. "You know what, you're as dumb as you look."

"What did you say?" Lee asked, angry.

"Lee." Kumiko whispered as she slowly moved her hand out in his direction.

"Lee!" Gai shouted as he jumped down to stop his student. "Stop!"

"But Gai-sensei," Lee tried objecting.

"Temari, forget them." Gaara called out as he glared down at his sister. "The match is over so get up here. You won, so why are you wasting time on that pathetic loser, and his ridiculous mentor?" That seemed to anger Lee even more. It angered Kumiko also. How dare he! Only _she_ was allowed to make fun of the two!

"What?" Lee seethed. Lee and Gaara had a stare down. Kumiko was finally able to pull herself up. She walked over to them with wobbly legs, and put her good wrist on Lee's shoulder.

"Just calm down Lee." She muttered. "I appreciate what you're doing, but it's not worth possibly getting yourself in trouble." Gai smirked.

"A word of warning, you sand villagers have no idea what Lee is capable of." He said to the sand ninja. Kumiko stared up at them, glaring. "Remember, he still hasn't fought yet, so I'd be careful if I were you." She noticed the blood lust filling Gaara's eyes.

"Please just, can we not?" Kumiko mumbled, rather embaressed from her losing. Lee and Gai stared at her, and then nodded. A medic-nin ran up to them, and grabbed Kumiko by the shoulder.

"Come with me so we can get your wrist healed." She spoke. Kumiko nodded and waved off Lee and Gai, the former of which seemed reluctant.

"I'll be fine." She promised, which seemed to reassure him, seeing as how he then followed after their sensei.

It took about half an hour to get all of her injuries healed, and when she came back, she noticed it was the end of Kiba and Naruto fighting.

"What did I miss?" She questioned as she walked up to her team. They all turned to look at her. She noticed Neji seemed to give her a stare of disappointment. She frowned as she looked away.

"Kumiko, you are okay." Lee said as he grinned at her. Kumiko glanced at him, and smiled lightly, then nodded.

"Yeah, but my wrist still hurts a little." She stated, then looked down at Naruto and Kiba, whose fight seemed like it was almost over. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Shikamaru and that kunoichi from the sound village fought, but Shikamaru was the victor." Neji stated as he watched the fight. Kumiko's eyes widened.

"Shikamaru won? Mr. Too Lazy for Anything?" She asked in awe. Wow, either Shikamaru's brilliant, or Kin just sucks.

"That's enough of this!" Naruto exclaimed as he stared at Kiba, blood running down his face, gathering their attention. Kumiko wondered just how long they'd been fighting. "Time to unveil my new technique!" New technique? Since when did Naruto work on new things?

"Go for it!" Kiba shouted as he began running towards Naruto. "I got you now!" He ran behind Naruto, and was going to dig his claws into Naruto's leg…but something…really gross…happened.

Naruto farted.

It went silent for a couple seconds, until Kiba, who has a very, very keen sense of smell, freaked out.

"Was that supposed to be your new technique?!" Kumiko shouted as she waved her hands in the air, flabbergasted at what Naruto did. "You're absolutely _useless_! Remind me to never bring you to a death match!"

Sakura was trying to hold in her giggles as she praised Naruto. Kumiko decided to kick Sakura in the butt, telling her not to praise him just for _farting_!

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto said, and suddenly, lots of Naruto's appeared. They then proceeded to give Kiba a huge smack down, resulting in Kiba lying on the ground, with Naruto standing over him, breathing heavily. Hayate bent down to look at the dog boy, who was in pain.

Hayate coughed and looked at Naruto. "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto." Lee and Sakura cheered loudly for him, while the others gave him praise.

"I have to admit, even though his fart was very disturbing, he was amazing." Kumiko smiled, then waved her arm around. "Congrats, Naruto!"

Naruto began heading up, but Hinata stopped him. Kumiko grinned as she watched Hinata give Naruto some of her healing ointment. So cute! She giggled as she watched them, which caught Neji's attention.

"What's so interesting?" He asked, but then frowned when he noticed where she was looking. Kumiko, didn't notice his dark look though.

"Those two!" She giggled. "They're absolutely adorable." Her giggling stopped though as she began thinking about the next match.

Wait, who's all that's left? Let's see, both Neji and Lee, the assholes Dosu and Gaara, and then Hinata and Chōji. Oh shit, Hinata! Hinata still hasn't gone yet, and the only person who may give her a chance at a fair fight, would be Chōji! Either way, Hinata most likely wasn't going to win her match, no matter who she was up against.

"Alright, we'll now pick the names for the next match." Hayate said. Kumiko was tense as she heard him. Who's going to be next?

The panels began going off again. When it finally landed on a pair of names, Kumiko felt her heart drop.

_Hyuuga Hinata VS Hyuuga Neji_

Oh no.

* * *

**Sorry this was a bit late. I got out of school about a week ago for summer, and have had family visiting ever since. My sister graduated high school though! So proud of her! This chapter is actually a bit shorter than the last two have, sorry about that. Also, sorry if the fight between Temari and Kumiko sucked, I'm not the greatest at writing action scenes. Next is the Hyuuga match! I do hope you guys liked this chapter. **

**Guest: I understand what you're saying, and am really thankful for your review! I just thought that since Neji was embaressed, that it was okay to say he blushed, since that's what most/all people do when embaressed. Hope I kept him in character this chapter. **

**Fun Fact: Kumiko actually hates her Voodoo Jutsu because she thinks it's rather lame. **

**Question: Do you guys like Naruto Gaiden?! (**I've been reading it and I kinda like it. I mean, it's only 6 chapters in, but is pretty cool. I absolutely love Chouchou**)**


	11. Neji VS Hinata

The first thing Kumiko noticed after the unveiling of the new match participants, was the fear on Hinata's face. The second, was the determination on Neji's.

"Hey!" Kumiko hissed as she grabbed Neji's arm. Neji, rather surprised at the sudden movement, yanked his arm out of her grasp. "I know what you're thinking," She glared at him. "Don't use this to your advantage of being able to beat her up without getting in trouble." Neji glared back at her, then turned around without a word. "Neji!" He kept going. She scowled as she watched him walking away.

"You do not really think he is going to be cruel, do you?" Lee quietly asked. He didn't know exactly what Neji had against Hinata, except that it was some sort of grudge. Kumiko sighed and shook her head.

"I'm not sure." She mumbled, and bit her lip.

Hinata and Neji stood in front of each other. It was deadly silent, until Neji broke it.

"I never thought, that you and I would have to face each other, Hinata."

She stood, stiffly. "Nor I, brother." Hinata said quietly, staring at him. Kumiko felt her heart ache at that. Even though Neji disliked Hinata, she still thought of him as a sibling. After all though, they grew up together.

"What'd she call him?!" Sakura exclaimed, confused. Kumiko jumped at the sudden loudness.

"Brother?!" Naruto shouted as he turned back to the two Hyuuga. "Those two are, brother and sister?!"

"Not exactly," Kumiko said as she turned to look at them. "They're both decendents of the Hyuuga clan, hence why they look so alike. It's one of the most ancient and honorable families of Konoha, alongside the Uchiha. They're not actually brother and sister." Sakura turned to look at her.

"Okay, but they're related somehow, right?" She basically repeated. Kumiko rolled her eyes.

"Yes, in the way a branch of a tree is related to its trunk." Kakashi butted in. "Technically they're more like cousins." Kumiko gave the sensei a wavering look at being cut off.

"The trunk of…a tree?" Naruto questioned his sensei.

"Yes, Hinata belongs to the family's main household, directly a descendent from the head of the clan." Lee added.

"While Neji's family is just a side branch of the clan." Kumiko finished quietly as she stared down at the Hyuuga.

"Still they're family and now they have to fight each other!" Sakura said. "I feel for them. That must be hard."

"Yes, but,"

"But what?"

"It may not be as hard as it seems." Kumiko told them, a frown playing on her lips.

Lee, noticing her look, continued on for her. "I have heard for many generations now, there has been some bad blood between the two families."

"Hmm, why is that?" Naruto questioned, genuinely confused. How could a family hate each other?

"I have never known the specifics." Lee told him. "But, you know about the bloodline traits of the great ninja clans like the Uchiha, and the Hyuuga, special techniques and abilities unique to those families."

"The first generation of the Hyuuga clan made all sorts of rules and decrees that favors the main branch family. It seems some branches of the family broke the rules." Kumiko continued. "Anyways, it's said because of that, there's been friction between the branches of the clan."

"So it's like, this match is a family feud!" Sakura gathered.

"Correct," Kumiko muttered. "And the main one's not going to win this round."

"Look, they're about to start." Kakashi said, gathering the attention of the genin.

"Alright, you may begin when ready." Hayate said. It was silent for a couple seconds.

"Before we do this, a word of advice.." Neji started, making Kumiko glare at him. What's he planning? "Hinata, listen to me. Withdraw now. You know you were never meant to be a ninja."

Kumiko gasped slightly at the look of devastation that crossed the younger Hyuuga's face. How could he say that about her? Hinata's tried just as hard as the others to get where she was now!

"You're too kind and gentle." Neji continued. "You seek harmony, and avoid conflict. You allow yourself to be easily swayed by others. Admit it, you have no confidence. You feel inferior to everyone else here. It would have been better for you to simply remain a genin, but to register for the chunin exams, you need a team of three people. You never even wanted to take part in these exams, but Shino and Kiba did, and you couldn't bear to let your teammates down. Could you?"

"Neji!" Kumiko snapped from above. She didn't want him saying anything like that! He's trying to make her feel bad! She could tell it was working, since Hinata began shaking in her spot.

"No! You're wrong!" Hinata finally cried out, a look of terror crossing her face. "You're wrong. I wanted...I had to find out…I did it because I wanted to see if I could _change_." Kumiko felt her heart ache for the younger girl.

"Hinata, you are the pampered offspring of the Hyuuga's main branch." Neji stated. Hinata looked confused. "People can't change no matter how hard they try. They can't run away from their true nature. A failure, will always be a failure." Kumiko felt very guilty as she glanced at Naruto when he said that. But actually, said blond boy, looked like he was getting angry.

"People are judged by their true nature. It is the way of the world. That is why we have an elite, and an outcast." Neji continued. "We can change our physical appearance, improve our skills with training and study, but ultimately, we are judged by what we cannot change." His part of the family. Neji's really just talking about himself here. "What can't be changed, must be endured. We are who we are, Hinata, and we must live with it.

"Just as I must live with the fact that you were born into the elite of our clan, while I lie in from a lesser branch."

Kumiko frowned and looked away. She didn't want to hear his continuous putting down of both himself and Hinata. It wasn't right. Personally, she didn't care that Hinata was a main branch, and Neji a side branch, but the main branch of the Hyuuga apparently did.

"Byakugan!" Neji's shout brought Kumiko back to the real world. Kumiko's eyes widened as she realized Hinata seemed to be panicking. "My eyes cannot be deceived. Just one moment ago, in the slightest of movements, your gaze drifted toward the upper left corner of the room. I saw, at that moment you were thinking of your past. Your bitter past."

"If anything, Neji's the one with the bitter past." Kumiko mumbled quietly.

"And then, almost immediately after, your gaze drifted to the lower right. It was a mere flicker of the eyes, but to me it revealed all of your mental and physical suffering." Neji said. Kumiko rolled her eyes. Maybe if Neji fails as a ninja, he could always be a psychiatrist.

"THAT DOES IT!" Naruto's scream gathered Kumiko's attention. To be honest, she didn't even know she was drifting off. Although, all Neji was doing was mentally abusing Hinata, so it's not like she missed much.

"Naruto." Kumiko hissed as she looked over at the younger boy. He ignored her.

"Who gave you the right to tell her who she can and can't be?! Go on Hinata, show this guy he's wrong!" Naruto shouted.

"Your teammate is such a jerk." Sakura muttered to Kumiko, who only sighed.

"He's generally an okay guy. It's just because he holds a grudge against the main branch that he's acting like this." She told her. Sakura, hearing the grudges part, raised an eyebrow.

"Grudge? What for?"

Kumiko tensed, and looked away. "Something that happened when he was younger. It's not my business to tell." Sakura, seeming to understand, slowly nodded and turned back to the match.

"Hinata! You just gonna stand there and take that?" Naruto snapped. "Do something, you're driving me _crazy_!" Kumiko noticed that the words Naruto spoke, seemed to give Hinata some confidence. Neji, also noticing this, scowled.

"If you don't forfeit the match, you know what will happen." Neji warned. Hinata said nothing as she began doing hand signals.

"Byakugan!" She spoke, and got in a stance. "Defend yourself, my brother." Kumiko and Lee gasped. Neji got in the same position.

"Very well then."

"Of course, it is the Hyuuga style." Lee said. Naruto and Sakura looked at him. "That is why their poses are the same."

"The Hyuuga style?" Sakura questioned.

"It is the most effective type of taijutsu found in our village. I have said it before. I have on my team the strongest genin to have ever come out of Konoha. That man, Neji Hyuuga." Lee spoke. Kumiko couldn't help but sweat-drop.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call him a _man_." She said.

The two took off for each other. They switched offense and defense very quickly between them. Hinata almost got Neji in the stomach, but he was able to dodge it. She was too into the fighting to listen to their sensei's explain how they fight. Kumiko was amazed at the confidence Hinata had gained from Naruto.

Eventually, one of them landed a huge hit on the other, but it was very hard to tell which hit which, seeing as how their bodies were very close together. Suddenly though, blood spat out of Hinata's mouth.

"So that's it huh? That's all there is to the main branch's power?" Neji questioned.

"Wait, what's going on?! I saw Hinata hit Neji perfectly!" Naruto exclaimed. Hinata tried hitting Neji again, but this time, he blocked her, and dislocated her elbow? Neji pulled Hinata's sleeve up, and Kumiko gasped, noticing all the red dots.

"You mean, all this time-"

"That's right. I can see your chakra points the whole time."

"Huh? What is he talking about?" Naruto questioned.

Kumiko tuned them out as she continued watching. Hinata couldn't handle fighting Neji. She just wasn't strong enough. Her lack of confidence was always stopping her from gaining strength, and a few words of encouragement doesn't mean she's now amazing at it. Kumiko rolled her eyes as she heard Neji talking about destiny. He told her to forfeit again. Take the forfeit Hinata!

"I," Hinata said, as she struggled to get off the ground. "I never, go back, on my word." She stood up. "Because that too is my nindo; my ninja way." Kumiko felt her heart ache again. Suddenly though, Hinata gave a cry of pain, and clutched at her chest area.

"Hinata!" Kumiko cried out as she stuck herself halfway over the railing. Blood was dripping from the young girl's mouth, onto the floor. "Hayate-sensei! Can't you tell that she's had enough?" The proctor looked at her for a second, then turned back to Hinata.

"She seems fine to me." He coughed, making Kumiko glare. This guy was so on her shit list!

"Go Hinata!" Naruto shouted. "You can do it!" Hinata regained some strength, and ran towards Neji. With that, they began fighting again. Hinata made the mistake of throwing her arm out too far, and Neji was able to catch it, and land a blow to her head, making Hinata fly back a couple feet.

"Hinata!" Kumiko cried out for the young girl again. She was horrified. She got over it though, and ran for Neji again. Neji though, seemed to have enough, as he landed a Gentle Fist to Hinata's chest. Hinata, fell to the ground. "No!"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Neji questioned his cousin as he stared down at her. Kumiko's body was shaking. Yeesh, it wasn't even her fighting yet she felt like she was. "Your strikes were ineffective from the very start. You're finished." He began walking away.

"It's too bad, but after that blow to the heart, Hinata, is done." Gai said as they all stared down at the battle area. Hayate began walking towards Hinata.

"Since she's no longer able to continue this match-"

"NO!" Naruto's scream was very loud, making Kumiko cover her ears in case he had more he wanted to scream. "Don't stop this match!"

"Naruto, she's down!" Kumiko snapped. "You shouldn't be wanting her to suffer through this anymore!" Her attention turned back to the battle area, and her eyes widened. Everybody made sounds of surprise, as they noticed that Hinata was trying to stand back up.

She was holding her side as she heavily breathed. "What do you think you are doing?" Neji asked her, completely stunned. "If you continue to fight, you're going to die." Neji seemed very angry by her.

"I'm far from finished." Hinata stated, trying to take a couple steps forward, but her legs were wobbly. Kumiko held her hand up to her mouth in horror.

"Give up the tough guy act. I can tell you're barely standing." Neji demanded. "You've been carrying a very heavy burden, having been born to the main branch of the Hyuuga clan. And you've cursed and blamed yourself, for being weak, but look. People can't change the way they are. That's just how it is. Just accept defeat, and you won't have to suffer anymore."

Hinata shook her head. "No, you're wrong brother. You've got it backwards. You see, I can tell, that you're the one, you're suffering much more than I."

"Hinata, be quiet." Kumiko ordered. She knew that Neji didn't like being talked down to, and it wouldn't end well for her.

"I'm _what_?" Neji asked, ignoring his teammate.

"You are the one, who's all torn up, about the fate of the main and side branches of the Hyuuga clan." Hinata stated. Neji gave off a growl, and ran towards Hinata. The bloodlust was radiating off of him.

"Neji stop, the match is over!" Hayate shouted as he ran towards the kid.

"Neji, don't!" Kumiko screamed as she jumped over the railing. She wasn't quick enough though, since all the other jounin had gotten to them first, and stopped Neji. Kumiko ran to Hinata and pulled her into her arms, staring at Neji with a look of horror. Only one thought was in her head.

_He was going to kill her. _

"Neji!" Gai snapped. "Get a hold of yourself. You promised me you wouldn't let this whole head of family thing rile you up!"

"Why are you and the other jounin butting in? The head of the family gets special treatment huh?" Neji snapped back, then narrowed his eyes at Kumiko. "And my own teammate turns against me too? How pathetic!" Kumiko couldn't say anything, because Hinata then gasped, and fell to the ground, coughing up blood.

"Hinata!" Kurenai said as she rushed over to the two girls. Naruto called out Hinata's name as he and Lee also jumped down, along with Sakura.

"Hinata, are you okay? Hey!" Naruto said, trying to get her attention. Kumiko abruptly stood up to glare at Neji.

"How could you do that?! She was obviously not well!" She snapped as she took a couple steps towards him. Kakashi grabbed her by the shoulder though, to keep her from getting closer to him.

"Why do you care? It's not like she's your family." Neji hissed. Kumiko glared.

"Yeah well apparently she's not yours either, '_brother'_." She exclaimed. They glared at each other until Neji turned to Naruto.

"Hey you, loser." He called. Naruto looked at him. "I have two pieces of advice for you. First of all, if you intend to call yourself a shinobi, stop that stupid cheering of yours, it's disgraceful, and second, once a failure, always a failure. You can't change that."

Kumiko looked at her 'friend' with such disgust. Gai had let Neji go since he calmed down, but Kakashi was still holding onto her shoulder.

"Hm, we'll just see about that." Naruto stated. Neji smirked as Naruto began running towards him. Kumiko didn't care anymore. This whole exam was filled with so much bloody drama, that it needed to be over and done with. Lee stopped Naruto before he could reach Neji. Naruto demanded to know what he was doing.

"Naruto, I get where you are coming from, believe me. But, the rules say, all fighting must be done officially in a match." Lee told him.

"That's not what he say saying when he tried attacking Temari." Sakura deadpanned as she watched on. Kumiko shifted her eyes away from Sakura, frowning.

"The loser beating the gifted genius through sheer will power," Lee continued, ignoring what Sakura said. "Now would that not make for an exciting match? Even if, _I_ am the one who is going to have to fight Neji." Did Lee just call himself a loser? "Of course if _you_ ended up fighting him, that is fine too." Naruto seemed pained to let it go.

"Alright fine! You win Lee!" Naruto said. Kumiko raised an eyebrow. This was the first (and probably the last), time she's ever heard him use Lee's name. Naruto turned away and started walking off. Kumiko sighed and turned to thank Lee for stopping him, but then quickly glared. Lee was currently giving Gai-sensei a thumbs up, which was given back to him.

A tick mark appeared. "Are you kidding me?!" Kumiko snapped as she kicked Lee in the butt, sending him flying across the room. "You did that huge speech just so you could get brownie points with Gai-sensei?!" Lee could be seen picking his head up, tears running down his face.

"But Kumiko~" He whined.

Hinata coughed again, more blood coming out, which caught everyone's attention. Kurenai undid her jacket so she could check Hinata's pulse. She glanced at Neji, who smiled.

"I wouldn't waste your time glaring at me, when you really should be taking care of her." He stated. Kumiko yanked her shoulder out of Kakashi's grip, which was amazingly strong since she was able to kick Lee, and began storming over to Neji.

"Don't look so proud of beating her, you little shit! I'll take you on right here!" She scowled as she tried grabbing Neji's hair, but Gai wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back. "No! Stop! I'm already disqualified, what's the worst they could do?!" She was absolutely _disgusted_ with her teammate. There was no way she could defeat him, but she was angry. How else would she get her anger out?

"Get a medic, and hurry!" Kurenai demanded. When nothing was happening, she got angry. "Hurry up!" The medic-nin ran over and one of them felt Hinata.

"She has no pulse!" He said, making Kumiko pause as she hurried back over to Hinata. "It's very serious, she's got 10 minutes at best." The medic-nin picked her up and began hurrying off with her. Kumiko could do nothing but stare in horror. Kumiko turned to look at Neji once more. The two were family, first cousins at that, and he did this with no remorse?

"How could you?" She whispered. Naruto crouched to the ground and stuck his fingers in some blood that Hinata left on the ground, making Kumiko blanch. Dude, don't go around touching other people's blood.

Naruto then slowly stood up. "Hinata, I give you my word." He said softly, then turned to Neji, his fist tightened, eyes hardened. "I vow to win!"

It was silent as someone cleaned up Hinata's blood from the floor. Everyone was back on the top floor and with their teams. Kumiko was standing next to Lee, ignoring the pointed glare Neji was giving her. Apparently he was angry that she was taking Hinata's side. She didn't care though. All Hinata wanted was to get stronger, and all Neji did was shove her down. Yeah right, like she'd be on his side!

Naruto was standing on the other half of the part they were all on, ignoring everybody. He must have taken Hinata being beaten really hard. After all, they're friends. Kumiko wanted to go over and console him, but Gai made her stay with them, saying how Naruto should probably be left alone for now.

All that was left to battle was Lee, Gaara, Chōji, and the sound ninja, Dosu. Oh great, poor Chōji was so going to lose his battle. Lee was most likely going to win in his match. That Gaara kid would definitely win in battle, and that Dosu guy…could possibly win, but only if he was up against Chōji.

"Now you're talking! All you can eat! Bring it on~" Chōji's yell could be heard all over the room. Kumiko looked over, wondering what the hell was going on. She noticed the smile on Asuma's face, and assumed he promised to get Chōji food if he won his battle.

"Yeah, well don't take this the wrong way, but _I_ don't like _you_!" Naruto's loud voice could also be heard. Kumiko looked over, once more, and giggled as she saw the annoyed look on Kankuro's face as Naruto squinted at him. Leave it to Naruto to be blunt like that. She had to admit, the kid could be funny.

Hayate coughed. "Now then, we'll continue the competition."

"Al~right!" Gai shouted as he looked at Lee and gave him a thumbs up. "This time you'll be picked, I just know it! You ready, Lee?"

"No!" Lee denied as he turned away with a frown. Kumiko raised an eyebrow as Gai gave a 'huh' sound. Lee turned to look at them. "I have been waiting so long, I do not care! I might as well go last!" What's up with him? Is he seriously pouting because he hasn't gone yet?

The panel began going through the names. Finally, is landed on a pair, and Kumiko felt her heart stop as Chōji screamed.

"Safe again!"

"Stop that!"

"Do you want everyone to know you're a chicken?!"

Kumiko didn't bother looking over as she stared at the names on the board in horror. Oh no…

_Gaara VS Rock Lee_

* * *

**Chapter 11 is done! One more part after this chapter, and then the preliminaries are done! Tbh, I'm really excited for those chapters cause there's going to be some good original content.**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's favorite past time is training with her team.**

**Question: Which Sannin is your favorite? (**My favorite is Tsunade, but Jiraiya is super close second. It's pretty hard to choose between the two**.)**


	12. Rock Lee Vs Gaara

Lee gave a high kick in the air. "It worked like a charm!" He cheered. Kumiko gave him a rude look. "I knew if I said I wanted to be last, I would be next! I simply applied the principle which states that sometimes the surest way to hit something, is to stop trying to hit it. It is a form of reverse psychology!" Gai cheered too.

"That's my student!"

Kumiko deadpanned as she rolled her eyes. "That's my idiot."

Lee laughed loudly as he threw his fist in the air. "I absolutely was _not_ going to be last, no matter what!" He cheered. "I sure fooled them, did I not?" Fooled _who?_

"Now then, listen carefully, a piece of advice before you begin," Gai said as he leaned close to Lee. Kumiko leaned closer too as she wanted to hear. "Look, you see that gourd Gaara's wearing? Watch out, there's something weird about it." Kumiko sweat-dropped hearing him. _N__o shit, Gai-sensei_.

"Good advice sir!" Lee said. Kumiko was about to turn away when she noticed Lee doing something.

"Don't write it down you moron!" She shouted as she kicked his butt, which sent him flying into the railing. "It's not like you'll have time to read notes during the match! Besides, Gai-sensei, _everyone_ knows that gourd is odd!"

"Oh, more good advice!" Lee said as he stood up and wrote that down too. Kumiko was about to kick him again but Gai stopped her.

"Now rock…and roll!" He shouted as he pointed up.

"Yeah!" Lee cheered as he jumped over the railing and onto the battle area. Sakura quickly latched onto Kumiko's arm.

"How do you put up with them?!" She questioned in awe, genuinely curious. Kumiko laughed hesitantly as she patted Sakura's hand.

"You know the saying, 'if you can't beat them, join them'?" She asked. Sakura nodded. "Well I just beat them, physically." They shared smiles, which then abruptly disappeared as they looked down.

Lee could be seen saying words to Gaara, but Kumiko couldn't hear. She stared at her friend. It was honestly really hard to tell who would win. Lee was amazing at taijutsu, but couldn't do ninjutsu nor genjutsu, which in a way, put him at a disadvantage. Gaara was carrying a large gourd on his back, which would slow him down, therefore meant he doesn't use any taijutsu, which puts _him_ at a disadvantage too.

She just really hoped Lee makes it out okay.

Lee's hand grabbed something that was flying towards him. "Why are you in such a hurry?" He questioned, and opened his fist, showing the small object that was in it. Kumiko glared at the red haired boy when she realized that he had thrown the cap to his gourd at Lee. What the hell? The match hadn't even started yet!

"Alright then, if you're both ready, begin." Hayate said.

Immediately, Lee took off running for him. "Leaf Hurricane!" His kick was blocked though, by a huge shield of sand. Kumiko's eyes widened. So he could make a shield out of sand?

Wait, the sand was moving. It crept up into the air, and tried closing in on Lee, but he was able to dodge it. Oh, so he can _move_ sand willingly. Where'd the sand come from though? The gourd? Lee stared for a couple seconds, but then took off again.

Kumiko leaned over the railing, gripping onto it tightly. This just got slightly harder. Lee tried repeatedly hitting Gaara, but the sand always blocked him. Kumiko turned to look at her sensei.

"He's not even moving and yet his sand's able to block! Isn't this cheating?" She asked. Gai shook his head.

"Not exactly. It's a type of jutsu, and these are anything goes battles." He told her. She sighed as she stared back down. The sand was trying to surround Lee, but he pulled out a kunai and tried slashing through it. It continued like that for a couple seconds.

"As fast as Lee is, he can't get anywhere close to him!" Sakura said as she stared in awe at the battle.

"It's the sand. It's shielding him from taking damage." Kumiko told her as she also stared down there, annoyance showing on her face. "He doesn't even have to move to be able to block Lee's moves."

"Well, is that all?" Gaara asked as Lee stared at him. Kumiko raised an eyebrow. Those are the first words Gaara's said since the match started. "I hope you haven't finished entertaining me. We haven't had enough…blood."

Suddenly, the sand shot out quickly towards Lee, who tried jumping to dodge it, but his foot was caught, and it flung him around until he hit the wall. Kumiko cried out his name as she stared down in horror. Thankfully, Lee was able to quickly recover and ran up to Gaara again, but still, the sand continued to block him.

"I don't get it, he's only using taijutsu." Sakura said. "Can't he see it's never going to work? Why doesn't he get some distance, and use ninjutsu?" Kumiko sweatdropped. He probably would, if he could.

"Yes that might be an idea. That is, if he had any." Gai said. Sakura made a 'huh' sounds and Kumiko turned to look at her.

"Lee has _no_ ninjutsu or genjutsu skills at all." She told her, then frowned. "Didn't you notice that he only used taijutsu when he tried protecting you from the sound village people?" Surely Sakura's not _that_ dense.

"You're kidding!" Oh, guess she is.

"Oh that's nothing. You should have seen how hopeless he was when I first met him. No talent whatsoever." Gai smiled. Kumiko rolled her eyes and turned back to the match. She gasped as Gaara's sand grabbed Lee's foot again, but this time, Lee fell on the floor. The spot he was in was filling with sand, but thankfully, Lee was able to dodge it. He jumped so high, he landed on the tip of the statue.

"A ninja who can do either ninjutsu or genjutsu is certainly a rarity. Lee has only his taijutsu to rely on." Gai spoke.

"Gai-sensei mainly uses taijutsu too, and is actually really amazing at it. It's why he took such a liking to Lee." Kumiko butted in with a nod. Gai gave her a look for cutting him off, to which she rolled her eyes. Well it's true!

"Anyways, some might consider that a disadvantage, but that's what makes him a winner." He finished. "Alright Lee, take them off!" Kumiko grinned at this. That means the real party is about to begin.

"Don't worry," She told Sakura as she noticed the suspicious look on her face. "He doesn't mean his clothes."

Lee looked stunned. "Uh, but Gai-sensei…you said that was only a last resort when the lives of very important people were at stake!" He stuttered. Gai gave him a thumbs up.

"That's right I did! But this is an exception!"

"Really?"

"Just do it Lee! It'll help you win!" Kumiko said as she waved her arms around, annoyed that Lee was hesitating.

"Really?!" Lee repeated, this time grinning. He then didn't wait to crouch down and take the weights off his legs.

"Leg weights?" Sakura questioned as she turned to Kumiko, who smirked.

"Not just normal leg weights." She told her, then pointed to Lee, who was holding one weight in each hand. "Just watch."

"Ah, that is better." Lee stated as he smiled. "Now I will be able to move freely."

"I don't see how losing a couple pounds will make him move easier." Sakura mumbled. Lee dropped them, and when they hit the ground, they caused a huge crash, and a giant wave of dirt.

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Kumiko was giggling at their faces. Gai gave a salute to Lee.

"Alright, now _go_!"

"Yes sir!" Lee shouted as he jumped down at amazing speed, and appeared in front of Gaara, almost like lightning. Gaara, who was not prepared for the sudden burst of speed, turned to look where Lee appeared. His sand almost wasn't fast enough to block the punch. Lee continued throwing punches and kicks, which the sand was almost able to not block.

"I could see that Lee had no aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu, so he skipped them, and focused all of his time and energy into developing his taijutsu." Gai praised his student. Kumiko looked down in awe of how fast Lee was. She'd been there when Gai had given them to Lee, and when she tried putting them on as a joke, her legs were almost crushed. _That's_ how heavy they were. "That way we turn his disadvantage into a blessing. Now he doesn't need those other things to win, because he's transformed himself into the world's greatest taijutsu specialist."

Lee jumped up into the air, and stuck his leg out. He was able to _finally_ hit Gaara on the head. Everybody gasped. Kumiko's heard before that Gaara's _never_ been injured nor touched once during the exams, so the fact Lee was finally able to land a kick, was amazing.

"Yes Lee!" Gai shouted. "Let the power of youth _explode_!" Lee shouted his agreement and ran at Gaara again. Lee started taunting Gaara, and was able to hit him again.

"He's just, too quick!" Sakura grinned. Kumiko cheered besides her. "That sand can't keep up with him! Lee you nailed him!"

"Yeah! Go Lee!"

Gaara stood up, and the sand was pouring out of the gourd. Lots of it. But, it looked like there was stuff falling from Gaara's face. Kumiko shivered as she watched it.

"Holy crap, is he okay? I think his face is falling off!" She exclaimed as she grasped her sensei's arm. Neji, who had been quiet the whole time, just stared. To be honest, Kumiko had actually forgotten the boy was even there. Gaara lifted his head up, and the sight was rather fearful. His face and neck seemed like it was made of broken sand pieces, and his eyes were wide, along with his grin.

"That's so weird." Sakura stated as she and Kumiko stared down.

"It's terrifying to look at." Kumiko mumbled quietly.

"It's like a suit of sand armor." Kakashi told them as he glanced at the two kunoichi. "It's only logical that since the sand automatically bends to his will, that it'd make a hard suit of armor, in case he got hurt."

"Well is that all?" Gaara taunted. Kumiko glared slightly. This kid's not even taking the offensive. Is he hoping that Lee will get tired, and _then_ he'll finally be able to attack? Because if so…then they'll all be here for days. She saw Lee look to their sensei, who gave a smirk and nod.

"Gai-sensei?" She asked as she looked to him, wondering what was going to happen. She then noticed Lee unwrapping some of his wrapped bandages, making her freeze. "You gave him permission for the Lotus?! Taking off his weights is one thing, but the _Primary Lotus?!_"

"Don't worry. Just believe in Lee." Gai said as he gave his nice guy pose.

She stared down at her friend, who then began running in circles around Gaara. She couldn't even see him anymore! Then, he went in, and kicked Gaara up, repeatedly. Lee was able to wrap Gaara around in his bandages in the air, and began doing the Primary Lotus as they spun. After a couple seconds, they hit the ground, making Kumiko's eyes widen. A giant owl of dust appeared, and she couldn't see either person.

Finally though, she spotted a green jumpsuit. She sighed in relief as Lee landed safely on the ground, and Gaara was practically in shambles in a pile of rocks.

"It is over, I got him." Lee breathed heavily sigh a grin.

"Right on!" Gai cheered.

"Way to go Lee!" Kumiko also cheered as she waved her arm around. She stopped cheering though, when she noticed Gaara's body seemed to be breaking. It was just another sand armor… "What?!"

"But how? When did he do it?" Gai exclaimed, confused.

"It was when you closed your eyes to pray." Kakashi deadpanned. Kumiko glared at her sensei. Dammit, can't you do anything right Gai-sensei?! "It was that moment that Lee closed _his_ eyes too, because of the pain. That's when he did it."

"Lee," Kumiko muttered. Her eyes widened as a huge pile of sand appeared behind Lee. Gaara came out of it and smirked. He sent sand flying towards Lee, and it knocked him back. He couldn't get up, and Gaara sent a wave of sand towards him. "Run Lee!" She screamed. He didn't though, and was caught up in it.

"I don't get it! What's Lee doing just standing there?!" Sakura exclaimed. "With his speed he should easily be able to get out of the way of those blast! Why doesn't he dodge them?"

"For a very simple reason." Gai said. "He can't dodge them."

"Huh? Why is that?" Kumiko ignored them as she stared at her friend.

Gaara threw his sand at Lee, which was digging into him. Kumiko cried out Lee's name as she heard his scream of pain. He was able to get back up and started running around, trying to dodge the sand, but he got caught in it again.

"I pity the kid," She heard Kankuro say. She looked over at him, and jumped when she realized that he was standing next to Naruto. How long had he been there? "Gaara will just toy with him until he begs for mercy." Kumiko scowled as she looked at him.

"Well than," She started as she caught their attention. "Gaara's in for a long match because _that_ will never happen." They made 'huh' sounds.

"Lee doesn't know _how_ to give up." Gai told them. Kumiko flinched as Gaara dug more sand into Lee's back. He stood up again.

"He can't go on!" Sakura screamed. "Make him quit before he gets himself killed!" Kumiko frowned and put her hand on Sakura's arm, trying to comfort the younger girl. She didn't like it either, but Lee was still standing, so he was still going through with it. Lee smirked, and moved around the sand Gaara was throwing at him, quickly.

"Lee's smiling. He's running for his life but he's still smiling!" Sakura said in awe.

"Yes, but now it's Gaara's turn to run!" Gai said as Sakura turned to look at him. "The Leaf Village lotus, blooms twice."

"I've heard that somewhere before." Sakura spoke. "Yeah, Lee told me that." Oh yeah, when they had to save Lee during the second exam, he _did_ say that to Sakura.

"But, no," Kakashi said, as he looked at Gai, stunned. "Gai you didn't…" Kumiko glanced at the two jounin in confusion. Wait, didn't what?

"Yes Kakashi, I did." Gai said as he smirked. Kakashi glared at the other jounin.

"So that genin, that _boy_, is able to open the 8 inner gates and use the Hidden Lotus?" He questioned. Kumiko's eyes widened and she kicked her sensei in the leg.

"You idiot! You taught him the 8 inner gates?! Are you trying to get him killed?!" She snapped as Gai held onto the leg that his student just kicked. Kumiko was trying to ignore the slight throb in her foot. She accidentally kicked one of his weights. Oops.

"That's correct. Well, the teaching him part." Gai said, trying not to cry out in pain. Yeesh, he sure has an abusive student! Wonder where she gets it from!

"Well, if that isn't the most…" Kakashi was trying hard not to be angry with his 'rival'. "Okay, so how many inner gates is he able to open _now_?"

"5 gates." Gai admitted. Kumiko gasped and turned to look at Lee. 5 gates?! He wasn't going to try and open all of those right? She ignored the others as they explained the gates to Sakura.

Of course Kumiko already knew what they were. She's slightly into using taijutsu, and Gai-sensei had explained to her what they were already a couple months back. But he never told her that he was teaching them to Lee! She overheard Gai tell Sakura that the Hidden Lotus required the third gate, which made Kumiko slightly happier. Well, at least it won't be as big a problem as all five.

"Opening all 8 gates, means you die." She heard Kakashi say, making Kumiko freeze. Well, Lee didn't know how to open all 8…so he's okay for now. "I don't know what this boy means to you Gai, but I shouldn't have to tell you that we _never_ bring our personal feelings to play. I wouldn't have thought that you were capable of this."

Kakashi was _so _not happy with Gai.

"You have no right. You know nothing about him. Nothing at all!" Gai snapped, making Kumiko pause. He was angry with Kakashi berating him and his teachings. Well, Gai _is_ Lee's sensei, and you don't see Gai trying to berate Kakashi on how he teaches his team…

"Gai-sensei…" Kumiko mumbled as she stared at her sensei.

"That boy has something important to prove, and he's determined to prove it, even at the cost of his life." Gai ranted. That's right, Lee's dream is to prove that taijutsu users are just as powerful as ninjutsu and genjutsu. "And I am determined to help him reach his goal. Not for his sake, but because that goal is worth reaching."

She stared down at Lee. He was staring at Gaara, but then crossed his arms and closed his eyes. No, he was going to start it. "I am _not_ going to be the only one to lose here!" She heard Lee say. "Gai-sensei, please let this work. It is now or never."

"Gai-sensei is not a God, Lee! Quit acting like he is!" Kumiko snapped, fed up with Lee always begging to Gai-sensei for things to work. Maybe that's why things never do. He ignored her.

"The third gate, Gate of Life: Open!" Lee shouted as he threw his arms down. Kumiko could feel such a huge power emanating from her teammate. It was strong. Lee's body was a shade of red. She expected Lee to attack, but Gai rejected that idea. "The fourth gate, Gate of Pain: Open!"

Kumiko's eyes widened. "No! You only need the third gate Lee!" She shouted. He didn't say anything, probably didn't hear her, and ran off for Gaara. Kumiko didn't even blink as Lee had already hit Gaara. His speed was amazing!

"Where did they go?!"

"Up there!"

"There's Gaara but what happened to Lee?"

There was a lot of confusion as everybody was stunned with what happened. The sand wasn't fast enough to protect Gaara. Lee appeared in front, behind, beside, under, everywhere with Gaara, and was beating the crap out of him. Amazingly, Gaara was still in one piece.

"His muscles are tearing themselves apart." Kakashi said amazed.

"The fifth gate, Gate of Closing: Open!" Lee shouted. Kumiko's eyes widened once more. He doesn't need these many gates open! He's getting too cocky! She noticed the stunned look on everyone's, even Neji's, faces. Lee hit Gaara, which sent him towards the ground, but Lee caught a small part of Gaara's clothes. He yanked it towards him, and punched Gaara.

"Hidden Lotus!"

The crash was loud, and there was so much dust everywhere, that nobody could see anything. Lee was thrown to the side. The dust had cleared, and Kumiko could hear heavy breathing. Gaara was, amazingly, still alive. Lee was trying to get up, but was struggling. Kumiko tensed, getting a bad feeling as Gaara picked his sand up, and was moving it towards Lee.

"Come on Lee! Move it!" Kumiko screamed. He couldn't though, and the sand covered his left arm, and left leg. "Lee!" He screamed in pain.

"Sand coffin."

Lee gave off an even louder yell, and there were loud crunches. Kumiko felt her heart stop. Lee was flung back, and seemed unconscious. But that didn't stop Gaara as he sent more sand towards his opponent.

"Do something Gai-sensei!" Kumiko screamed, seeming to realize what was happening. "He's going to kill Lee!" Gai didn't even hesitate to get down there and stop the sand. Kumiko's heart was pounding a mile a minute. Gaara seemed confused as he held his head in pain.

"But why? He failed." He muttered, a disgusted look on his face. "Why save him?" Kumiko didn't hesitate to jump down and run to Lee, crying out his name. It was obvious that he had lost, so it shouldn't matter if she entered.

"Because he's, he's my student, and also because he's precious to me." Gai told the young child. Kumiko finally reached Lee and picked his head up and laid it on her lap. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at his arm and leg. They looked smashed, almost as if there were no bones in them. A simple medic-nin wouldn't be able to heal them! Kumiko didn't notice the look Gaara was giving her. Gai did though, and stood so he was blocking her from Gaara's sight.

Gaara stared at them for a couple seconds, then stood up and started walking off. "I quit." He stated, his back turned. Kumiko stared at the boy with her mouth wide open. She gently laid Lee's head back on the ground and stood up.

"You can't just _quit_, you _asshole_! You practically broke him! Even if he did win, he wouldn't be able to participate in the finals due to his injuries!" She screamed as she waved her arms around. She felt her eyes getting watery. "He's _broken_." Gaara turned to look at her with a glare. Gai shoved his arm out in front of Kumiko, ready to protect her from the boy.

Gaara took note of the protective stance. "Is _she_ precious to you also?" He rhetorically asked Gai, a glare etched on his face. Gai tried his best not to give him a dirty look.

"_All_ of my students are precious to me."

Hayate decided to intervene, finally. "The winner is-" Everyone made gasping sounds. Kumiko looked around to see what caught their attention, but turned around when she noticed that's where they were looking.

There was Lee, standing on very shaky legs, looking like he was still ready to fight.

"It can't be." Kumiko stated in horror as she looked to her friend. "He's knocked out!" Gai hurried to his student.

"No Lee, it's alright. It's all over now." He said. "Anyway you're in no condition to-" He stopped when he realized that what Kumiko said was true. Lee really was unconscious. "Lee, oh Lee." Gai started crying, which in turn made Kumiko start crying. "What have I done?"

"Gai-sensei…" Kumiko whispered. The guilt her teacher was feeling, must have been huge.

"Look at you, not even conscious, and still determined to show the world what you can do." Gai spoke.

"His willpower's too strong." Kumiko mumbled as she stared.

"Lee, you've already proven it." Gai cried. He then pulled his student into a hug. "You are a splendid ninja."

Hayate decided then to ruin the moment. "The winner is Gaara." Kumiko sobbed quietly for her friend as she rubbed her eyes. Poor Lee.

"Hm, I knew he couldn't beat Gaara." She heard Temari say. She looked at the older girl, who was smirking. Instantly, a burning sensation appeared in Kumiko's chest. Anger. All she could feel at the moment, was anger. That girl was going to _pay_ for putting her friend down!

Naruto jumped down and ran to them. He stopped when Hayate said that Lee needed serious attention. Kumiko bent down to get closer to Lee. He was going to be okay, he had to be! "Bushy Brow..." Naruto whispered.

"Naruto..." Kumiko quietly said as she looked up to the boy, tears streaming down her face. She felt so useless. A ninja isn't supposed to show emotion, and yet, here she was, showing all of hers. Naruto stared at her for a couple seconds, but then put his hand on her shoulder. It felt so comforting.

"You're his teacher, aren't you?" One of the medic-nin asked Gai.

"I am, what is it?" Gai questioned. The medic-nin stood up.

"Will you, come with me?" He asked gently. Kumiko automatically stood up too, trying to follow Gai, but he stopped her.

"Maybe you should wait here." Gai said as he put his hand on her shoulder. Kumiko shook her head.

"But Gai-sensei-"

"I won't be long." He cut her off, and followed the medic-nin without a second glance. She frowned, but stayed put nonetheless. The medic-nin were putting Lee on a stretcher.

Kumiko didn't know what to do, so instead she looked towards the medic-nin handling Lee. "Please be careful with him. His body isn't stable." She whispered. They gave her sympathetic looks but did so.

"The boys breathing is faint," She over-heard the medic-nin telling her sensei. She and Naruto turned to look at them. "Steady. There are bone fractures and muscle tears throughout his body. He's facing a long and difficult rehabilitation. But I'm afraid, that's not the worst of it."

Worst of it? Gai already seemed horrified! How worse could it get?!

"His left arm and leg in particular have suffered massive damage." The medic-nin explained. Kumiko gasped. It was from Gaara's sand coffin. She knew there was something particularly wrong with them! "I'm sorry, I know how much it means to you both, but he'll never fight again. His days as a shinobi are over."

Kumiko's heart dropped.

"No." She whispered, holding her head, not knowing what to do.

"He's wrong." Naruto stuttered. "He's wrong, it can't be true!" Naruto also seemed distraught with what happened. Gai walked over to them, and stared down at Lee.

Kumiko's face scrunched together as she noticed tears threatening to fall from her sensei's eyes. His shoulders were shaking. Kumiko had to look away. It's always the worst, when someone who you've never seen cry before, cries. Especially Gai-sensei, since he's supposed to know how to, and be great at keeping his emotions in check.

Naruto seemed in denial over the news. "It's not true. It can't be true. It's easy for you to say it's over, but what about Bushy Brow?! What's he supposed to do now?" Kumiko stared at the boy. She didn't know Naruto truly thought of Lee as a friend. "Failure? I thought you said we could win? I thought you were gonna show how a failure can win! It was all a lie, wasn't it?!"

Kakashi appeared and grabbed Naruto, covering his mouth to keep him from talking. "That's enough Naruto."

"But sensei, it isn't fair! All he ever wanted, was to prove himself against Sasuke and Neji."

Kumiko couldn't hear them. Her ears were pounding so hard and her nose was stuffy. "Oh Lee." She mumbled, rubbing her arms uncomfortably.

Kakashi walked over to Gai. "Gai, what I said earlier. It was out of line. I was being a self-righteous fool. I realize now, that if I had been in your shoes, I probably couldn't have stopped him either." She knew what he was doing. He was trying not to let Gai feel so guilty. "Come on Gai, let's go up. They can't start the next match with us standing here."

"Right." Gai said quietly. With that, the two jounin headed up. Naruto walked over to Kumiko, whose sobs were gone but her face was still red.

"He's my best friend and I couldn't stop him from getting hurt." Kumiko said quietly as she looked at Naruto. The boy smiled sadly at her.

"He's a shinobi. It's what happens." He said. Kumiko rubbed her eyes, but paused when she noticed a hand in front of her. "Let's go up." She smiled her own sad smile, and took his hand.

What a cool kid. Why'd she avoid him before?

When the area was clear, it was time for the final match. It was Chōji and Dosu.

The battle was a quick one. A very quick one. Chōji had lost. Kumiko was too distraught with the previous match to actually watch it.

"And with that match, the third exam preliminaries, are now finished." Hayate said. _Finally!_

The eight genin (Sasuke wasn't there still), who had passed walked down to the battle area and stood in front of Ibiki, Anko, Hayate, and the Hokage. Everyone else stayed on the upper level.

"I commend those who advanced to the finals for the third level of the chunin exams. Well, there's one person missing, but still. Congratulations." Hayate said. Kumiko sighed as she looked at her sensei, who had been quiet since the end of Lee's battle.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Gai-sensei. Lee knew what he was getting into." She tried comforting him. He looked at her with a frown.

"He knew, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have stopped him. After all, I did keep giving him permission to do the things that I've forbidden him from in everyday life." Gai said. "It was my being irresponsible that caused him to end up like this." Kumiko didn't know what else to say, so she looked away.

"And now I will begin the explanation of the final round." The Hokage said.

Long story short, they all had a month to prep for the final battles. The first battle would be Neji and Naruto, the second; Gaara and Sasuke, the third; Shino and Kankuro, the fourth; Shikamaru and Dosu, and the fifth was a bit weird, so it'd be the winner of the fourth fighting Temari. It was a tournament, but different.

There were to be judges, who would decide on whether someone could be a chunin, even if they lose. How lucky of them.

She felt Gai put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on Kumiko, I'll walk you home." He softly said. She stared up at him, then nodded.

"Right."

* * *

**You guys! I am so excited for the next few chapters! Trust me when I tell you, you will _not_ want to miss them! Kumiko gets to meet a certain pervy sage ;) and has lunch with someone who's supposed to be the enemy. So, I noticed that I tend to show Kumiko's friendship with Lee more, but trust me when I tell you, those two are practically siblings. Nothing will happen between them.**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko is a quick healer. Usually if her injuries are small, they heal within a shorter amount of time than the usual shinobi.**

**Question: Who's death was the saddest in your opinion? (Warning: Mine may have a spoiler if you haven't caught up in the anime/read the manga: Neji's was the worst for me, just cause if he had enough time to block those spikes being thrown, he had enough time to push Hinata out of the damn way, and she definitely should have had enough time to push Naruto. Like, his death was totally useless to me)**


	13. A Creepy Perv and Lunch with the Cat Boy

The next day came quickly for Kumiko. She originally planned on visiting Lee in the hospital, but Gai-sensei advised against it. Since Neji had to train for the finals, and Lee was seriously injured, Team Gai wasn't able to take any missions for the time being, so she practically had the whole month free.

Speaking of Neji, Kumiko hasn't said a single word to him since the match between him and Hinata. He hasn't said anything to her either. She's been pretty stressed out over what's happened to Lee, and talking to Neji, who she was still angry with, wouldn't help. Not to mention, Neji would probably just focus on training, and ignore her anyways, so she'd rather not waste her time bothering.

So, instead of visiting anybody, she decided to take a bath at the public bathhouse. Usually she wouldn't, but she needed a nice soak, and her bathtub at home wasn't big enough. She had taken a quick bath last night, just to get rid of the dirt, but she wanted a nicer wash. She had her bag secured over her shoulder, and was on her way there.

She was making her way over a bridge when something caught her eye. A certain blond something.

"Naruto?" She called out. Said boy in question was currently leaning over a railing, breathing heavily. He didn't look at her, but lifted his arm up as a greeting. "Are you okay?"

She didn't notice the sudden presence. "Well then, had enough?" The new presence asked, making both Naruto and Kumiko scream, but Naruto ended up falling in the water, a couple feet from the bridge. A man landed on the railing, and stared down at Naruto.

"E-Ebisu-sensei?" Kumiko stuttered seeing the man. The man, now known as Ebisu, finally noticing Kumiko, looked over at her and smiled.

"Oh Kumiko! How are you?" He asked. She stared at him for a second before shaking her head. Of course she knew who Ebisu was, and he knew her. Ebisu was on Gai's team when they were still genin, along with someone else named Genma. She'd met Ebisu a couple times before, but as far as she knew, Ebisu was the Hokage's grandson's tutor. So, why was he scaring Naruto?

"I'm alright. But, why are you bothering Naruto?" She questioned. Ebisu glanced over at Naruto who was glaring at him from the water.

"Oh, I've been put in charge of training him since Kakashi is training Sasuke." He answered. Kumiko rolled her eyes. Wow Kakashi, way to show that you like Sasuke more than Naruto, jerk.

"You're a real pain, you know that?!" Naruto shouted as he glared at Ebisu. "Why can't you just go away and leave me alone?"

"It wouldn't be much of a chase if I did that!" Ebisu told him. "I'm supposed to be trying to catch you, remember?" Kumiko sighed and continued walking.

"I'll be going now. Please don't freak Naruto out." She said, trying to walk by them.

"No Kumiko, don't leave me alone with the closet pervert!" Naruto shouted, trying to get out of the water to stop her. Kumiko frowned and glanced at Ebisu, who was badly blushing.

"Closet pervert?" She repeated. Ebisu quickly ran to her and started pushing her away.

"You said you have to be going correct? Don't let him keep you here. Bye bye now!" Ebisu exclaimed, and practically shoved Kumiko away. She grumbled and continued on, giving Naruto an apologetic look.

"No, Kumiko!"

Eventually, she reached the bathhouse. It was rather empty, except for several women. Most of them ignored her, but a couple who knew her, greeted her. She greeted them back. Now, time for a nice soak!

Kumiko had probably spent about two or three hours there. She only actually planned on being there for about an hour, but she did happen to bring a book, and started reading it, so she kind of got lost in reading. She quickly got out of the water and dressed, deciding she had been there long enough.

When she was exiting the bathroom, she heard someone snickering from the left of her. Standing outside, looking through one of the windows, was a rather large man, with a lot of white hair, giggling as he stared in the bathhouse. Didn't that window lead to the women's part? Kumiko quickly rushed over to him, her anger flaring.

"Hey you creepy perv!" She snapped, going to kick him in the side. "Don't look in there!" The man, who everybody reading this knows as Jiraiya, caught her foot before she could kick him. He looked down at her. His eyes widened for a second, probably from getting caught, but then went back to normal.

"Oh, it's just a kid. Get out of here. I'm busy." He told her, letting her foot go. She glared at him.

"No way! Quit perving on the women in there! How long have you even been doing this?!" She snapped, then froze. Wait, she was in there just a little while ago. Did he see her?! "Ack! I was in there a couple minutes ago, you perv!" She screamed, waving her arms around like crazy. Jiraiya, obviously not having seen her, began waving his arms around too while freaking out.

"You were?!" He shouted. "I didn't look at _you,_ I swear!" Kumiko blushed brightly.

"Is this what you do all day?! Perv on little girls taking baths? Someone help! This guy's a pedophile!" Kumiko shouted. Jiraiya, terrified of what would happen next, quickly grabbed her by the arm and covered her mouth with his hand, which in hindsight, wasn't a bright idea, seeing as how it terrified her even more.

"Kumiko?" She could hear Ebisu's voice. Both people turned around, and saw Ebisu running towards them. "What is that man doing to you?!" Oh thank the Gods, Ebisu would save her!

"Oh please." Jiraiya muttered as he summoned a giant red frog, which then picked up Ebisu with its tongue, and slammed him on the ground. Thankfully, he had let Kumiko go before the summoning, and she ran a couple feet away. She glared at the knocked out Ebisu.

"You are absolutely useless!" Kumiko shouted as she pointed at Ebisu.

"Kumiko!" Naruto called out to her, rushing over her way.

"Naruto." She said, sighing in relief. Well, no way Naruto would be taken down that easily!

"Who is this guy?" Naruto questioned her as he reached her.

"I don't know. I caught him looking in the women's bathhouse!" She answered. Jiraiya chuckled as he looked at the two kids.

"Just so you know, I really wasn't looking at you. If I had known a young girl was in there, I definitely would have come back another time." He told Kumiko, who glared. Wow, because that makes this better. Naruto walked over to Ebisu.

"Hey, perv, you awake?" He questioned, then crouched down. "One way to find out. Hidden finger jutsu." Kumiko's mouth dropped open when she saw Naruto stick his fingers in Ebisu's butthole. "Thousand Years of Death."

Nothing happened.

"Oh my God, Naruto! You can't just go around sticking your fingers in people's butts!" Kumiko reprimanded, absolutely freaked out.

"Kakashi-sensei taught it to me." Naruto told her, then stood up. Of course he taught him that, Kakashi's as weird as Naruto! "He's totally out of it. Some trainer, he's pathetic." Very. Naruto turned to Jiraiya. "Okay Frog Man, what was that all about?! Who do you think you are anyway?!"

The old man started doing these weird moves and flipped his hair around. "I'm glad you asked. I'm the hermit of Mount Myoboku! The wise and immortal spirit! That's right, it is I, the Toad Mountain Sage!" Kumiko's mouth dropped open at the name. No way, was this seriously…_him?_

"What, toad sage?" Naruto asked, utterly clueless.

"Exactly." Jiraiya said, and sent his frog away.

"Well, listen ya _pervy sage_!" Naruto snapped. "What are you gonna do about this? This guy is supposed to be training me, and you laid him out flatter than a bathmat! Not to mention, you've probably scarred my friend!" Kumiko chuckled nervously.

"Umm, I'm okay with it for now." She waved, trying to get over the fact that one of the legendary Sannin, who she's read all about in the history books, was an absolute _pervert_!

"Well _he_ shouldn't have interfered with my research, and _she_ shouldn't have been so loud." Jiraiya told Naruto.

"Your _research_?" Kumiko questioned rhetorically. "What were you researching? The naked female body?" Jiraiya just grinned.

"Well, you see, I'm a novelist." He told them.

"He probably writes pornography…" Kumiko muttered darkly. Jiraiya ignored her.

"I am a writer of great books. Like this!" He continued, and pulled out a book. It was Icha Icha. And yes, it was a smutty book.

"What?! You wrote _that_?!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the book. Kumiko gave him an incredulous look. He's read that thing before?!

"Yes!" Jiraiya seemed proud. "I did! So you know it!"

"You call that pervy trash a novel?!" Naruto screamed. Kumiko couldn't help but start laughing at the appalled look on Naruto's face at being accused of having read the book. "Research, yeah right! It's just an excuse for you to peek at girls in the bathhouse!"

"Creep!" Kumiko added, and feminine screams could be heard from inside the bathhouse. Jiraiya started screaming as he watched all the women running away.

"Look at what you've done! You ruined my peeking- I mean my research!" Jiraiya whined.

"Dirty old man." Naruto and Kumiko said in unison. Jiraiya ran up to them.

"Why you little- there's nothing dirty about it!" He tried defending himself. "I happen to be an aspiring artist who's inspired by youth and beauty and-!"

"Yeah whatever!" Kumiko interrupted. "Like anyone believes that!"

Naruto cut in. "Who cares anyway? What about my _training_?!" Jiraiya paused.

"Your training? You mean the walking on water technique you were having so much trouble with?" He questioned. Oh, so _that_'s what Naruto was busy learning. Isn't that something you learn early on though?

"You can do it?" Naruto asked. Kumiko looked to him with an eyebrow raised.

"Walking on water? I can do that too. It's kind of basic stuff." She told him, rather surprised that he was just now learning it.

"Okay then, you both can teach it to me!" Naruto said, then pointed to Jiraiya. "You at least owe me that!" Jiraiya gave an annoyed look and walked past the two kids.

"Ha! Stop bothering me kid, I'm busy." Jiraiya said. Naruto, not liking his answer, growled.

"Hey come back here you pervy sage! Where's your sense of responsibility? You've gotta train me!" Naruto practically begged. Kumiko sighed. Jiraiya dramatically turned around.

"Not on your life!" He exclaimed. "I can't work with someone who has no respect for a true artist! Besides, I don't like kids." A tick mark appeared on Kumiko's head.

"Then why do you watch them bathe?!" She exclaimed loudly. Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"I told you already! I didn't even see you in there! Don't be so loud!" He shouted, looking around to make sure no one heard. Kumiko scoffed.

"I'm getting out of here. I don't have much time to be wasting. My dad needs me at home. Bye Naruto, I'll see you some other time. Bye creepy perv!" Kumiko said as she quickly ran off.

"I'm not a pervert!"

When she was a good distance away, Kumiko quit running. She sighed heavily.

"Jeez, who knew that the Great Sannin Jiraiya was such a huge pervert?"

Her trip home wasn't very long. She was grateful for it. She was also excited to tell her father that Jiraiya was at Konoha! After all, it's not every day you meet one of the Sannin! She opened the door and closed it behind her.

"Sneak attack!"

"No wait!" Kumiko tried dodging it, but she failed, and it ended up hitting her in the shoulder. "You ass!" She was so excited to share the news that she had forgotten about her father's habit. Her dad hesitantly looked at her.

"Well, can't say I didn't warn ya." Kumiko growled and threw the bottle right back at her father. He dodged it though, so it smashed onto the wall. "Aww, you injured my favorite wall…"

Kumiko sighed and sat on the couch. She was tired. Her father sat beside her, giving her a questioning look.

"Why are you back so early? I thought you went to visit Lee at the hospital?" He asked. She rolled her eyes and pouted.

"No, Gai-sensei told me not to. He doesn't want anyone seeing Lee for a couple of days. He still feels guilty for what happened." She told him. Her dad raised an eyebrow.

"But you've been gone for a while. Where'd you go?" He questioned. Her eyes perked up and she grinned.

"I went to the bathhouse!" She giggled. "Guess who I met!" Her dad pretended to think about it.

"A magical tiger that poops ramen."

Kumiko wrinkled her nose. "No you goof. I met Jiraiya-sama! You know, one of the legendary Sannin?" Her dad froze. Master Jiraiya? He's back in Konoha?

"Oh? How'd you meet him? And why at the bathhouse?" He asked. Kumiko chuckled a little awkwardly.

"Well see, I was leaving it, and when I went outside, I saw him peeking in there, but since I don't know what any of the Sannin look like, I didn't know it was him, and tried attacking him, but he stopped me." She answered. Her dad gave an odd look.

"Wait, so was he peeking on _you_? Cause if so, that's really disgusting…" He said. She shrugged.

"I don't think so, I mean, he said he didn't even notice me, so I'd assume not." She mumbled.

"Anyways, I have to get going. I have physical therapy, so I'll see you later." Her dad said as he stood up and kissed her on the head.

"Okay, see you later." She said as she waved.

He left.

For as long as Kumiko can remember, her dad's right leg has always been messed up. Apparently he had permanently tore a ligament in it when she was about 5, and he's been having to go to physical therapy every two weeks for it. It also stopped him from being a shinobi. Much like Lee. Maybe when Lee regains consciousness, he can talk to him. After all, no one understands you better than people like you.

Deciding she had nothing better to do, she headed back out.

She had just been walking the streets when she bumped into someone, which ended up with her falling down onto her bottom.

"Sorry." She mumbled, she was going to get back up, but a hand appearing in front of her, stopped her.

"Do you enjoy bumping into me, _Kumiko_?" A familiar voice asked. She glared up at the person.

"No, you're just always in my way, _Kankuro_." She hissed. The cat boy laughed loudly and grabbed her arms, helping her up. She jerked herself away, almost as if he burned her. "Don't touch me." Kankuro grinned.

"Why so serious?" he questioned. She rolled her eyes and began walking away. "Hey, I helped you up, the least you could do is thank me!" Kumiko glared at him.

"You're the reason I fell in the first place." She snapped. They stared at each other for a couple seconds, until she sighed. "Thank you for helping me up." Kankuro's smile grew even wider.

"That's more like it." He said, then paused. "Anyways, I was uh, heading out to get some lunch. Care to join?" She gave him an incredulous look.

"What?" She asked, shifting uncomfortably, a suspicious look etching its way onto her face. "Get lunch? With you? Why?" They don't know each other, and definitely aren't friends. Why on earth would she go get lunch with him?

Kankuro shrugged. "Well yeah I mean, like the Hokage said, the chunin exams are for creating a sense of unity between villages. Might as well be part of it." He grinned. "Besides, isn't it common curtesy to show a guest around?" She glared at him.

"You're not my guest. You're the village's guest. So, go bug some other villager." She deadpanned, and continued walking off. Kankuro speed walked over and grabbed her arm. She yanked it away and glared daggers. "Quit touching me like that!" Kankuro rolled his eyes and held his hands up in an innocent way.

"My bad, I forgot you don't like that." He said. She rolled her own eyes. She told him not to touch her not even two minutes ago! He smiled, not grinned, not smirked, but actually smiled at her. "Come on? I don't know any good places to get food, and am starving." Kumiko paused in hesitation. He looked so sincere, and well, this guy hasn't really don't anything to her _personally_, nor anyone she cared about, so, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. "I'll even pay." Whoop there it is.

"Fine."

She ended up taking him to Yakiniku Q. It was a Korean restaurant that she often sees Team 10 at, but thankfully, none of them were there to witness her being 'friendly' with the enemy. The two sat across from each other, giving their order to the waiter.

When the waiter left, Kumiko turned to stare at Kankuro. "Why do you wear that paint?" She couldn't help but question. It was the first thing she'd said to him since they'd got there, and it caught Kankuro off guard.

He cleared his throat. "It's the traditional garb of a puppeteer in Suna." He answered, then pointed at his hood. "This is also a tradition." Kumiko snorted.

"Oh, I thought it was just cause you had a fetish for cats." She said as she gave a tight smile. Kankuro raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Well, why do you wear what you wear?" He asked. She blinked a couple times and looked at her outfit, then shrugged.

"I'm not quite sure. It's just comfortable. I remember going to the store once with my friend, Ino, and just grabbing random things because she was trying to decide on what I should wear, and was taking forever. This is what I ended up with and it became my everyday outfit." She told him. He chuckled.

"That's an odd way of picking out clothes." He said. She sweatdropped.

"I guess." She replied, then frowned, and stared at him. "Why are you being nice to me?" Kankuro seemed caught off guard for the second time. He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, you seemed rather bored just walking around the village, and I was bored too, so I thought we could be bored together. Honestly though, we weren't allowed to leave our room, and I couldn't handle being cooped up in there for so long. Besides, I heard you weren't allowed to visit your teammate today, since some medic-nin are still looking him over." He answered. Kumiko looked away. Oh, so _that's_ the real reason Gai-sensei wouldn't let her see Lee.

"Yeah I mean, your teammate _did_ practically mutilate half his body." She hissed, then blushed as she thought of his female teammate who kicked her butt in the preliminaries. "Temari wasn't any better of a person either." Kankuro frowned and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"My siblings aren't that bad." He said. Truth be told, he was absolutely terrified of Gaara, but Temari and him were okay. Kumiko froze.

"_Siblings_?!" She exclaimed. "They're your siblings?!" Kankuro chuckled at her face. "You guys look nothing alike!" She glanced at Kankuro. Well, she couldn't really tell what he looked like since he was practically covered in clothes, and his face was covered in the paint. "Actually, I don't even know exactly what _you_ look like."

"Well, I'll give you a hint." Kankuro said, then moved his hand, indicating for her to lean forward, which she did. "I look like my dad."

She sat back quickly and gave him a dry look. "I don't even know what _he_ looks like you moron." Kankuro just laughed. Kumiko rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the small smile that gathered itself on her face. He actually was kind of fun to talk to.

Their food arrived a couple seconds after. They thanked the waiter. "So, what are you going to be doing all month, since you don't have to prep for the finals?" Kankuro questioned her. She looked at him, then shrugged.

"Not sure, I mean, Lee's in the hospital, Neji and I aren't talking, everyone else is busy…" She trailed off. Wow, she really had no clue what she was going to do. "What about you? Aren't you supposed to be training?" Kankuro chuckled.

"It's only been a day since the preliminaries. I need _some_ kind of break." He told her. Kumiko nodded thoughtfully. She frowned and squinted her eyes. "What?"

"Serious question here," She started. Kankuro leaned closer, showing that he was interested. "Is Gaara actually wearing eyeliner?" That caused Kankuro to laugh a bit too hard. When he finally settled down, Kumiko was blushing badly from the embarrassment.

"No, they're bags from lack of sleep." He answered. Kumiko frowned.

"Lack of sleep? Why doesn't he sleep?" She questioned. Kankuro shrugged, and suddenly didn't look interested in talking about Gaara anymore.

"Who knows? He's just plain weird." He told her. She blinked at him a couple times, then nodded slowly. That kid really wasn't normal.

Eventually, when they were done eating, Kankuro did pay, and they left the restaurant. Kumiko bowed to him in gratitude.

"No problem, it was fun." Kankuro said with a smile, but then it slipped off his face. "It's just too bad that we can't be friends." Kumiko, thinking it was because of Gaara and Temari, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're actually pretty cool. I thought you were gonna be a jerk." She said honestly as she held her hand to the back of her neck. Kankuro smiled sadly, then looked around.

"So, you plan on attending the finals?" He asked. Kumiko nodded.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss the chance to see Naruto kick Neji's ass." She replied. Kankuro frowned.

"You should probably just skip going. I mean, it probably won't be _that_ interesting." He said awkwardly. Kumiko gave her own frown. Why didn't he want her to go? She stared at him, but then smirked.

"Oh, _I_ know what's going on. You don't want me to see Shino possibly kick your butt." She teased as she giggled. Kankuro rolled his eyes.

"No I mean-"

"Thank you for the lunch again, Kankuro. Maybe we can be friends in the future." She said with a smile, and walked away. Kankuro frowned as he watched her. He really did enjoy her company. It was rejuvenating, talking to someone who wasn't afraid of him just because of who his brother was.

"I doubt we can ever be friends." He muttered to himself as he started heading back to the place he and his siblings were currently staying at. "Especially not after the exams."

* * *

**Done! Sorry this took me a bit longer to get up. I meant to update yesterday but my dad ended up taking me over to a friend's house. So! Kumiko met Jiraiya and had lunch with Kankuro! Originally, I didn't plan on her having lunch with Kankuro, but I figured there would be no harm in adding it in. It was rather short though.**

**KlonoaDreams: I'm so happy you're enjoying the fic! Thank you for your review! I agree with you 100%! I really hope you update Butterfly Child soon! It's one of my favorite fanfics and I must know what happens next! I actually just recently got into One Piece, so when I catch up on it, I will definitely read your SI/OC for it lol**

**Guest: Holy crap, I can't believe I made that mistake. No one pointed it out to me so I'm thankful you did lol. I thought it seemed weird since it rhymed. I will definitely be sure to fix that when I go through and edit my chapters later on. Thank you for telling me!**

**Falainakorna: Thank you so much for reviewing on almost every single chapter! I'm really glad you answered all my questions. It was really fun reading your answers to them. I actually agreed on almost every single one of them lol. I'm sad you don't enjoy the cannon Naruto though, but that's your opinion, and I respect it. Thank you again!**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko has a fear of being left behind. Both physically and emotionally.**

**Question: Who is your least favorite character? (**Mine is Sasuke. He made so many wrong decisions and I cannot accept any of them. He was okay at first, but when he defected from the village, I absolutely hated him, because that kinda became the main focus of Naruto. Like no...focus on Naruto. The manga isn't called, "Sasuke". That being said though, I will _not_ make Sasuke any different than he is in cannon.**)**


	14. Visiting Lee

About two days had passed since then. Kumiko hadn't met up with anyone, and hadn't seen any of the sand siblings thankfully. Neji and her still weren't talking, and Gai was busy helping said boy train for the finals. Thankfully, she heard that Lee was finally able to have visitors, so she planned on visiting him at the hospital.

It didn't take her long to reach the hospital from her home. She was rather excited to see Lee. After all, someone needed to be there to comfort him. Neji was obviously in his moods, and Gai-sensei probably wasn't able to look Lee in the eye right now, and well, that left her. Unless of course, the other genin visit him. She just wanted to be first.

Walking in there, she quickly sped over to the receptionist. "Hi, I'm here to visit Rock Lee." She told her. The receptionist nodded and called a nurse over.

After Kumiko signed in, the nurse beckoned her with her hand. "Follow me please." She said nicely. Kumiko nodded and did as the nurse requested. The walk was silent until the nurse broke it. "Please keep in mind that though he's very weak, he needs his rest. You'll have to keep your visit short. Five minutes is all I can give you." Kumiko nodded.

"Yeah of course."

Finally, they reached Lee's room. The nurse politely knocked. "Lee, are you here? You have a pretty visitor." Kumiko blushed at the compliment, then frowned. Of course Lee was there! He's practically bedridden! The nurse opened the door, and the two of them gasped.

Okay, so maybe she was wrong.

Lee actually wasn't in the room. "Oh no!" The nurse panicked. "Lee!" Kumiko felt a slight breeze in the room, and noticed that the window was open. She quickly rushed over to it. Did Lee seriously jump out the window?! She looked around outside, and sighed in relief as she spotted Lee on the ground. Except, he wasn't resting. He was doing push-ups.

"Lee!" She called out, then climbed onto the window.

"Wait, you can't do that!" The nurse freaked out. Kumiko glanced at her, then smiled timidly.

"Oh, sorry." She said, then jumped.

She landed on the ground safely, but her knees didn't bend correctly, so they kind of twisted. Kumiko bit her lip as she winced at the pain. Whoops, not her brightest idea yet. Quickly, she ran over to Lee.

"Lee, you shouldn't be out of bed!" She reprimanded as she stood close to him. "What are you thinking?" He weakly did another one arm push-up.

"One-hundred ninety-one." He struggled. Kumiko frowned and shook her head as the nurse appeared behind her.

"Lee, you must remain in your room!" The nurse ordered sternly, then went to help him. But Lee didn't like that.

"Keep away from me!" He barked, making both Kumiko and the nurse flinch back.

"Lee." Kumiko hissed as she walked closer to her friend. "She's just trying to help. Listen to her."

Lee didn't care. "Please, I've got to…finish my training!" Kumiko's eyes glazed over as she stared at her friend.

He shouldn't be doing this stuff. He's been permanently injured, and his days as a shinobi are over…either he hadn't been told yet, or he's just plain crazy. "Lee, please." She said softly as she crouched down next to him. He continued his push-ups.

"One ninety-nine…" Lee croaked out. Kumiko couldn't help but stare. What else could she do? "One more! Just one more!"

Come on Lee. You did that many! You can do one more!

But, he couldn't. When he went down for his last one, he collapsed.

"Lee!" The nurse and Kumiko shouted at the same time. Kumiko, who was so close, turned him over and looked at him. The nurse quickly ran off. "I'm going to get some orderlies with a stretcher. Stay with him until I get back."

"Of course." Kumiko mumbled. Lee seemed like he was unconscious, but Kumiko could see he wasn't exactly. "Why are you doing this?" She questioned. His eyes barely opened, and she could see the pain.

"I have to. I need to heal quickly so we can continue with our missions." He told her, his voice barely above a whisper. Kumiko frowned and looked away. "Kumiko…" She bit her lip and scrunched her face up.

"Stop please." She whispered, then smiled bitterly. "Remember when we first met?" She giggled. "I accidentily cut your braid off." Lee stared at her. "Don't you remember?" She looked up at the calm clouds passing by. "It feels like forever ago, but also very fresh."

_The kid was so weird. He couldn't do ninjutsu nor genjutsu, but was so determined to be a shinobi. Although, Kumiko wasn't one to talk. Her doll jutsu was pretty useless, so she too mainly focused on using taijutsu and weapons. _

_Everyday she'd see the boy having to stand up for himself against the people that put him down. It wasn't his fault. It's just how he was born. Not everyone can be born a genius like her friend Neji. She wondered if his parents were like him. Did he even have parents? What a silly question, everyone has parents! But, why hasn't she seen his? Were they dead, or just not invested in his life?_

_"__What are you looking at?" She heard Neji question from beside her. She blinked a couple times before sitting up straight. She glanced once more at the boy, then turned to her friend._

_"__That boy. The one who can't use anything but weak taijutsu." She answered, pointing down at him. Lee was currently sitting a couple desk down from them. Neji narrowed his eyes at her._

_"__Don't point. It's rude." The ten year old reprimanded, then also looked down to the boy. "Why were you looking at him? He's nothing special." Kumiko frowned as she heard a slight bitterness in his voice. Shrugging, she picked up one of her kunai and stared at it, trying to be careful so that Masaomi-sensei wouldn't see it. _

_The students weren't allowed to keep weapons with them in the class. She didn't care though. Her dad usually left his weapons unguarded, and she'd take a couple of them to the academy with her, so she could play with it whenever she's bored. Kumiko smiled slyly as she leaned closer to Neji._

_"__Why do you say that? Are you jealous?" She questioned, giggling, then batted her eye lashes. "No need to be, you know you're the only one for me." Neji gave her a dry look._

_"__It's not going to happen."_

_Kumiko leaned back with a small frown, and shrugged. "It will. I can predict the future." She told him, moving her hands around in a mystical way. Neji rolled his eyes and turned to listen to their sensei. Kumiko gave a heavy sigh and twirled her kunai around on her fingers. Masaomi-sensei was distracted with writing something on the board, so he wasn't paying attention._

_Apparently Kumiko wasn't either._

_The seconds her hand relaxed, her kunai had accidentily flung out of her hands. She gasped loudly as she realized it was heading straight for the weird kid. Neji, who also saw it, felt his eyes widen at the sight. Kumiko, trying to get the boys attention, shouted 'hey', but since she was panicking, it came out more like a strangled yell._

_It all happened in slow motion. The boy turned around half way, and noticed the kunai coming for him. Thankfully, he was able to dodge it, but, since the kunai was going so fast, it sliced right through his hanging braid. The room was dead silent as the braid fell to the ground. _

_"__Way to go." Neji muttered to her as she looked on in horror. _

_Not even wasting a second after that, she quickly stood up and ran out of the room, absolutely appalled by what happened. Okay, maybe there's a good reason kids aren't allowed to play with the weapons without adult supervision. She was so grateful that the kid wasn't injured. Well, physically. Maybe emotionally, depending on how attached to his hair he was._

_"__W-wait, please!" She heard someone shouting from behind her. "Kumiko!" She froze, and turned around. It was the weird kid. Kumiko's face was bright red as she fell to her knees and bowed._

_"__Please accept my apology!" She cried out. "I really didn't mean to do that! I was bored and playing with my kunai and-and…" She stuttered. The boy, who was staring down at her with a light smile, laughed._

_"__It is okay. I know you did not mean to do that." He said as he crouched down to help her up. She was extremely embaressed. They stared at each other for a couple seconds. Lee grinning, and Kumiko frowning. _

_"__You can cut my hair!" She blurted out. Apparently the guilt was eating away at her. Lee, stunned by the sudden suggestion, frowned._

_"__No thank you." He denied, then grabbed his uneven hair and brought it out, then grinned again. "I was planning on getting rid of my braid anyways. It was getting too long. You did me a favor by cutting it."_

_Kumiko couldn't help but stare. This was the weird boy that everyone avoided. Why? He seemed very friendly, and normal. Did everyone just put him down because of his lack of ninjutsu and genjutsu? That's not very fair… Wait, what was his name again? How'd he even know _her_ name?_

_"__How do you know my name?" She questioned. Lee blushed lightly, then smiled._

_"__Just because people do not know my name, does not mean I do not know theirs." He said as he stood up straight. Kumiko blushed and looked away, disappointed for not knowing his name. "My name is Rock Lee."_

_"__Well, you already know my name, but I'll actually introduce myself." Kumiko said as she smiled. "Hello Rock Lee. My name is Rabu Kumiko." The two shared smiles._

_This was definitely the start of a beautiful friendship._

"Now you remember?" Kumiko questioned as she smiled at Lee. He was staring at her, tears in his eyes. "We've been best friends ever since."

Of course, from that day forward, Kumiko had switched between sitting with Neji and Lee every day, since Neji refused to sit with Lee, and Kumiko didn't wish to make Lee uncomfortable with Neji glaring daggers at him, probably for stealing his friend.

"Kumiko…" Lee repeated her name weakly. Kumiko put her hand to her mouth and giggled.

"And then there's when you asked me to be your girlfriend, even though Gai-sensei pressured you into it."

_It was just another day at training. Team Gai had been together for about five months now. Kumiko was working hard at her jutsu, Neji his byakugan, and Lee…well Lee had already been transformed into a mini version of their sensei and was sparring with Gai._

_"__Good kick Lee!" Gai shouted as Lee tried kicking him. "So youthful!" Kumiko, tired of hearing her sensei repeatedly saying 'youth', turned to Neji. _

_"__He never shuts up." She whined. "How does his wife stand him?!" She paused, and she and Neji shared looks. "He doesn't have one, does he?"_

_"__Not that I know of."_

_Kumiko rolled her eyes and frowned. Well, she's not really surprised. After all, not many women would be able to stand being around the eccentric jounin for long periods of time. She noticed that Lee and Gai were done sparring._

_"__Oi, Gai-sensei," She called, walking over to them, Neji not far behind. She really wanted to know! Maybe he at least had a girlfriend. Gai, hearing his student call to him, turned to look at her. He raised a bushy eyebrow at her innocent look. "Do you have a girlfriend?"_

_"__A girlfriend?" Lee asked, apparently not understanding what that meant. Gai laughed loudly as he did his nice guy pose._

_"__No, but I don't need one! I have you kids filling up my time, so I wouldn't be able to have one!" He told her, then turned to look at Lee. "But just because I don't need one, doesn't mean you shouldn't Lee! It'd actually be good for you to have one."_

_Kumiko and Neji shared eye rolls. "Gai-sensei, her question wasn't meant to be turned into a life lesson." Neji deadpanned. Lee looked slightly uncomfortable._

_"__What do you mean 'girlfriend'?" He asked. Kumiko couldn't help but feel bad for the kid. She's not surprised that he's never had one. After all, he dedicates all his time to training too. Plus…he kinda scares all the other girls away. Gai laughed._

_"__You know!" He said. "A girlfriend is a girl who you cherish and care deeply for! She's someone who you'd be willing to give your life for." Kumiko scoffed._

_"__There's more than just that." She deadpanned. Lee was quiet for a second, then smiled and pointed at Kumiko._

_"__So that makes Kumiko my girlfriend!" He exclaimed. Neji and Kumiko fell to the ground and Gai just laughed, again. Kumiko quickly got up and started waving her hands around._

_"__No, no, no." She stuttered, absolutely embarrassed. "Although I appreciate that you cherish me, that doesn't make me your girlfriend. There's more to it. Like romance. We're not in a romantic relationship." She explained. _

_Neji coughed awkwardly as he got up. He really wanted to go back to training, but this was very entertaining to watch. Now Kumiko knew how Neji felt when she'd flirt with him. Well, used to. She's actually stopped doing it for a while now._

_"__Oh." Lee said. Kumiko chuckled nervously. Gai leaned down and whispered something in Lee's ear. "But…"_

_"__Just trust me." Gai muttered. Lee frowned before turning to Kumiko. He smiled and did Gai's nice guy pose._

_"__Please be my girlfriend!" He shouted. "I promise to protect you with my life!"_

_The other two kids fell down again. _

_Kumiko quickly got up and shook her head. "Lee, I won't be your girlfriend." She told him with a frown. Lee seemed slightly crestfallen, then smiled._

_"__That is okay. I will still protect you with my life." He said. Kumiko blushed slightly at the heartwarming promise. Neji glared at Lee, obviously annoyed. _

_"__Thank you." Kumiko said gratefully, and put her hand on Lee's shoulder. "And I will protect you with mine also." It was silent for a couple seconds, until they all heard someone sobbing._

_"__Oh, that was so beautiful!" Gai-sensei cried, rubbing his eyes with his forearm. Kumiko sweat-dropped._

_"__Can we just go home?"_

The medics finally arrived, and placed Lee on a stretcher. The nurse stopped her when she tried following them. "He's going to need his rest." She gently told the young girl. Kumiko frowned and stared, watching them take him away.

"Please…take care of him." She quietly whispered to the nurse. The nurse's eyes softened.

"Don't worry. He's in good hands." The nurse said gently. Kumiko nodded and headed off, hoping to go back home. She passed Sakura and Ino, who were each holding flowers, and waved. They must be heading to the hospital to visit Sasuke. Sakura would probably also try and visit Lee.

Not knowing what else to do, she headed back home. Guess she'll just hang out with her dad.

* * *

**Okay, so sorry this** **took me a few days longer to upload. I actually had it ready, but kept forgetting to update. I recently got a job so I've also been really busy with that. If it makes you feel better, I will be uploading the next chapter a lot sooner than I usually do. I still have like 5 chapters that are already written. I just gotta time my updating these. Especially since when I run out of pre-written chapters, school will start back up for me, and I'll have even less time to update quick. I'm sorry about that. **

**I also apologize with how short this chapter is. I was going to include the episode where Team Gai meets for the first time, but I couldn't find the episode(s), so I wasn't able to add it. Sorry.**

**Next chapter, Kumiko meets back up with Naruto and Jiraiya!**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's least favorite type of food is spicy food. She just can't handle it well.**

**Question: Which animal would you want to be able to summon? It could be a summon someone already has, or just any animal you'd like. (**I would like to be able to summon elephants. Like, do you know how awesome that'd be? It could easily rampage and crush stuff and it'd be great for traveling**)**


	15. Training, Or A Death Sentence?

A couple weeks passed by, and Kumiko awoke to someone banging on her door. Everything felt nostalgic for a second. That's usually what Gai-sensei did when they had a mission to go on. No! She's supposed to have all month off! Why would someone do this to her?!

"Kumiko! Get the damn door before I do! Gai will not like it if I answer it!" Her dads yell of warning could be heard, making Kumiko frown. Damn, so even her dad thinks it's Gai.

"I'm going, I'm going!" She shouted back, quickly getting out of bed and rushing to the door, yanking it open, ready to begin yelling. "Gai-sensei quit-…err...you're not Gai-sensei." It wasn't. It was the blond boy who's convinced he'll be Hokage.

"Nope!" Naruto grinned and gave a wave. "Hello~" Kumiko stared at him for a couple seconds, then leaned away from him, a suspicious look on her face.

"How did you know where I lived?"

"Sakura told me you lived beside her!" Naruto answered, then, understanding what Kumiko was insinuating, started waving his hands around. "Don't worry, I'm not a creepy stalker!" Kumiko smiled lightly and stepped back into her house.

"Would you like to come in?" She questioned. Obviously Naruto was there for a reason, and keeping him outside was rude. Naruto accepted and took off his shoes before stepping inside. She told him to make himself comfortable before she headed into her room to change clothes.

It took probably about 10 minutes because well, she didn't know what to wear. So, she decided on her daily clothes. When she walked back out to the living room, she froze as she noticed her father staring Naruto down. Naruto looked extremely uncomfortable being stared at like that.

"Dad." She quietly said. Her dad turned to her with a not so happy look on her face. "Please quit staring at him like that."

She kind of understood why her dad was acting like that. He'd always been the one to tell her to stay away from Naruto, and she did something worse than just talking to him. She invited him into her home. He obviously felt betrayed.

"What's _he _doing here?" Her dad asked through a strained voice. Naruto blushed and looked down at the ground, clearly remembering back to all the times that people would act the same way to him.

Kumiko cleared her throat, in a certain tone, hoping her dad would get the hint to yell at her later. "Visiting. Please go back to bed." She tried pushing her dad away, but he stayed put, and leaned closely to Kumiko.

"You know I told you to stay away from him." He struggled to say. "He's _dangerous_." Kumiko frowned and leaned away from her dad. Does he even _know_ Naruto?! How can he just say things like that?! Angered by her father's words, she stormed over to Naruto and grabbed his arm.

"Come on Naruto. We can talk outside." She said. Naruto hastily stood up and followed her.

"O-okay." He stuttered, then turned to Kumiko's father, and bowed. "Sorry." Her dad said nothing as they left. He sighed and sat on the couch, his face in his hands.

"Doesn't she know I'm just trying to look out for her?"

Kumiko turned to look at Naruto as they walked through the village. "So what's up?" She asked. Naruto, still appearing to be off put from his meeting Kumiko's dad, jumped slightly and looked at her. Then, he grinned.

"Oh yeah! I convinced the pervy sage to train me a while back!" He grinned. Kumiko raised an eyebrow. Pervy sage? Wait, that's what Naruto was calling Master Jiraiya! Whoa! He convinced one of the legendary Sannin to be his mentor?!

"That's amazing!" She exclaimed as she looked at him with wide eyes. Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, and I was wondering if you'd like to come train with us today." He said, then paused. "I know that you haven't really been able to train, what with Bushy Brow in the hospital, and Neji doing his own training."

"Of course I'll train with you guys!" Kumiko said, her eyes sparkling. No way would she pass this chance up! Naruto grinned and cheered.

He ended up taking her to this place a little ways away. There were a couple small waterfalls and streams flowing by. Kumiko glanced around, wondering where exactly Jiraiya was. When she asked Naruto, he pointed over somewhere. She looked, and furrowed her eyebrows when she saw a huge mop of white, sitting very closely to some bushes.

"What's he doing?" She questioned as they made their way over. Naruto shrugged.

"Probably spying on the women playing in the water." He answered. A tick mark appeared on Kumiko's head as she realized that Jiraiya was perving on the women. She sped over to him, sticking her leg out.

"Kumiko kick!" She exclaimed, her foot connecting with his side. It sent Jiraiya flying to the side a couple feet. He was too into watching the women that he didn't expect someone to kick him. Quickly getting up, he started yelling.

"What was that for you brat?!" He shouted, stomping his foot on the ground repeatedly as he pointed at her. Kumiko glared and stuck her nose in the air.

"You're perving on those women you creepy perv!" She shouted, stomping her own feet as she pointed back at him. Jiraiya, recognizing it as Kumiko, paused.

"You're that girl from before. What are you doing here?" He questioned. She rolled her eyes and jerked her thumb over at Naruto, who seemed to be trying to summon something.

"Summoning jutsu!"

"Naruto invited me to train with you guys." She answered. Jiraiya seemed annoyed by that little tidbit of information. "I can go back if you'd like." He sighed and waved his hand.

"No, you can stay. After all, you're already here. I just don't know what you could learn from me." He told her. Kumiko glanced at Naruto, who was summoning very tiny toads.

"Just teach me what you're teaching Naruto. If he can learn it, so can I." She shrugged. Jiraiya frowned as he glanced over at Naruto, who wasn't doing so well.

"I only know how to summon toads. You'd like them to be your summon?" He offered. Kumiko also frowned, then waved it away.

"Oh never mind, I'll just watch the training and make sure you don't kill him." She said. Jiraiya smirked and patted her on the head.

"Good, now, let me continue my research." He told her, then giggled, sitting back down and continuing to peek through the bushes. Kumiko glared at him, then sighed, giving up. Walking over to Naruto, she continued watching him try and summon toads.

It continued on for quite a while.

"Summoning jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as he did some hand signs and hit his hand on the ground. There was a small cloud of smoke. "That just had to work!" When it cleared, both kids were disappointed to find that it was a small tadpole/frog. It had legs, but also had a tail. Both kids screamed as they held their heads. "Ahh, what's the difference between a frog and a tadpole anyway?!"

"Is it how they look or is it their bodies?!" Kumiko shouted. She grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and shook him. "I need to know!"

"Ha, ahha, haha." Jiraiya couldn't keep his constant giggling down as he watched the women. Naruto turned to Jiraiya, absolutely annoyed.

"Look pervy sage, can't you at least _act_ like you believe in me?!" He shouted. "At least Kumiko's paying attention!" Naruto didn't get to say anything else after that, because he proceeded to then faint.

"Naruto!" Kumiko gasped as she quickly caught him, and set him on the ground. "Naruto, are you okay?" He didn't wake up. Jiraiya walked over to them.

"No need to worry. He's simply exhausted his chakra. We should just give him a couple minutes to rest." He told her. She nodded and looked down to her friend. Jiraiya couldn't help but stare at the young girl. "So, I assume you two are friends?" Kumiko frowned and looked away. _Were_ they friends?

"I don't know. I'd like to think we are." She hesitantly said. Jiraiya studied her for a second.

"What's your name? I've heard Naruto call you Kumiko, but it'd be nice to check." He said. Kumiko smiled lightly.

"My name is Rabu Kumiko." She answered. Jiraiya was quiet as he slowly nodded. "There's no need for me to ask you your name though. I know you're the Great Sannin, Jiraiya-sama." Jiraiya grinned.

"Ah, so does that mean you'll quit calling me creepy perv?"

"No." She deadpanned. Jiraiya's smile dropped and he glared at the young girl. She smiled brightly and laughed. Jiraiya glanced down at Naruto, then back at Kumiko. He had to choose his next few words carefully.

"So…does your father not approve of your friendship with Naruto?" He asked slowly. Kumiko blinked a couple times, wondering what kind of question that was. She frowned, then shrugged.

"No, he always tells me Naruto's dangerous, but I don't know why." She said softly as she stared at the young boy. "He seems perfectly harmless to me."

_Ah, so she doesn't know he's a jinchuriki,_ Jiraiya thought. That could be a problem. Sighing, he grabbed a bucket and walked over to the river. "Well, time to wake him." Filling the bucket, he walked back over to Naruto and dumped it on him. "Come on, open your eyes already!"

"Ah!" Naruto shouted as he quickly shot up. His sudden movements, scared Kumiko for a second, making her stand up.

"Ah!"

"Hey, what was that for?" Naruto questioned as he shook the water off him.

"Oh that? To knock sense into ya since ya have none." Jiraiya simply answered, making Kumiko snort. Wow, this guy must be a blast to train with.

"_I_ don't?!" Naruto rhetorically asked, looking to Jiraiya. "Look at _you_!" Jiraiya leaned close to Naruto.

"You've been training for three weeks and you're still at this level?" He asked. "If you continue like this, it's pointless."

Kumiko turned away from them as she pulled out her doll to look at it. Actually, it's not like she hadn't trained _at all_ since the beginning. She just didn't train with her team. Her dad had actually taught her some new stuff for her Voodoo Jutsu, which she was rather excited about. Ino even helped her with it sometimes, since she too had a ton of free time.

"Alright, follow me." Jiraiya's voice snapped her back to reality. He turned around and began walking off, but paused to look at Kumiko. "I think it's time for you to go home." She frowned and blushed.

"No, she should still come with us." Naruto butted in, obviously distraught at seeing her look so down. He glanced at his mentor. "I trust her." Jiraiya stared between the two for a couple seconds, then sighed.

"Alright, come along the both of you." He said. Kumiko's face brightened as she and Naruto shared smiles.

For some reason, Jiraiya had led the two of them to one of the public bathhouses.

"Ack! You creepy perv! You just want to see me naked!" Kumiko shouted as she pointed accusingly at Jiraiya. Jiraiya, who had temporarily forgotten she was a girl, waved his hands around trying to calm her.

"No! This is part of the training!" He defended.

"What kind of training requires us to bathe?" Naruto questioned, also skeptical. Jiraiya grinned.

"This isn't _exactly _about the bathing. It's about purifying." He told them. The two kids shared looks. "Kumiko, obviously since this training is mainly for Naruto, you can just go take a normal bath. This place is usually empty, so you don't have to worry about others. We'll call out to you when we're done."

Kumiko remained skeptical, but complied anyways. Jiraiya sure was weird. She took her bath and was waiting in the women's part for them to finish.

"Oh Heaven!" She could hear Jiraiya say from the men half of the bathhouse. "Truly like Heaven!" She blushed, overhearing him. He's so creepy.

Eventually, Naruto called out for her, and he and Jiraiya were outside waiting. They all began walking again.

"Hey, pervy sage," Naruto started.

"I'm the _toad_ sage." Jiraiya deadpanned, making Kumiko giggle. There's no way Naruto was ever going to change the nickname for him. The same way she's going to always call him creepy perv.

"Yeah well whatever ya are, what does taking a bath have to do with the summoning jutsu anyway?" Naruto continued. Jiraiya continued walking, which didn't sit well with Naruto. "Hey, hello! I'm talking to you!" Jiraiya stopped. "Uh, what? What is it? Why did you stop?!"

"Hey, Naruto, tell me. Is there something you like to eat?" Jiraiya asked him. Kumiko frowned as she watched them. Was Jiraiya just trying to spoil Naruto?

Naruto ended up telling him that he loved ramen, and Jiraiya treated the two to Ichiraku Ramen. Kumiko remained skeptical as she carefully ate her food. Did the creepy perv poison it or something?

"Alright, I'm gonna eat!" Naruto cheered as he practically devoured his ramen. "This is great, why can't the training be like this every day?"

"Good, now eat up." Jiraiya said, then mumbled, "It may be your last meal."

Kumiko, overhearing the last part, suddenly began choking on her food. Oh no! He was planning on killing them! Oh lord, it was nice knowing everybody! Jiraiya began patting Kumiko on the back with a lot of force.

"Oh, be careful Kumiko. Wouldn't want you…_choking to death_." He said with an smirk. Kumiko's eyes widened and she leaned back, away from him. Were all Sannin this terrifying? Maybe she should just grab Naruto and make a break for it. No, the creepy perv would easily be able to catch them. Oh great…

Naruto asked for another helping of ramen.

Eventually, Naruto was full. "Ah man, I'm stuffed. Thanks a bunch, pervy sage." He turned to look at Jiraiya, but was stunned to see a giant frog plushie. "He left?!" He looked besides the frog, where Kumiko was, but she too, was gone. "They _both _ditched me?!"

The second Kumiko saw Jiraiya make his getaway, she followed to reprimand him on ditching his student. But she ended up losing him. So, she walked around, trying to find either him or Naruto. Eventually, she found Naruto, but he was sulking. She ran up to him and repeatedly apologized for leaving him with the bill. He forgave her and they walked.

"So, had enough?" Jiraiya questioned as he suddenly appeared behind the duo. Naruto snapped.

"Oh quit messing around!" He shouted, then tears started running down his face. "You were supposed to treat us to that meal!"

"You little fool. I never said I'd treat you." Jiraiya said with a grin. Naruto didn't like that as he ran to Jiraiya and started pounding on him.

"But you're supposed to! You're the grown-up!" Kumiko frowned and kicked her leg out.

"Kumiko kick!" She shouted. Except this time, Jiraiya was ready, and caught her.

"Not this time Kumiko-hime." He deadpanned. Kumiko frowned and yanked her leg away. Hime? Ack, hime! She totally forgot about her Hinata-hime! When was the last time she'd seen her?! Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "Say Naruto, do you happen to have a girl that you like?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you have a special girl, someone close to you." Jiraiya repeated. Naruto immediately backed off and started blushing. Kumiko rolled her eyes and scowled.

"Well I don't know," Naruto said bashfully. "Sorta. I guess you can say I like her." Kumiko rolled her eyes again, knowing that he was talking about Sakura.

"So, who is it?" Jiraiya questioned, leaning in as if it was a secret.

"No one! Just Sakura!" Kumiko repeatedly banged her head against the closest pole.

"Okay, let's go see her, because you're going to give her a big hug!" Jiraiya exclaimed. Both Kumiko and Naruto panicked at the thought. Except, Naruto's panic had a hint of giddy in it.

"This is part of my training?!"

"Well yeah, I mean as close enough." Jiraiya said.

"Yes alright let's go!" Naruto was about to take off, but then paused, thinking about the consequences. "But if I do hug her…Sakura will…no…this is part of my training too! I have to do it! I will be strong! But of course I'm also going to need black and blue…" Kumiko sweat-dropped, knowing Naruto was thinking of stealing Sasuke's clothes. Naruto continued his rant.

"Just go already!" Jiraiya shouted, kicking Naruto.

"No! Don't enforce this!" Kumiko snapped. "She'll beat the crap out of him!" Jiraiya laughed loudly, then leaned close to Kumiko.

"Well what about you, Kumiko-hime?" He asked. Kumiko blushed at the nickname. "Do you have a special boy?" Her blush grew brighter as Neji popped in her head. "Oh, you do?!"

"No!" Kumiko shouted as she waved her hands around. She paused, and sighed. "I mean…we're not talking right now." Jiraiya frowned, but then grinned.

"Well, there's no time like the present! Go hug him too!"

"No way!"

Naruto had gone off to hug Sakura, and Kumiko and Jiraiya were watching from a distance. Long story short, it ended with Sakura punching Naruto. Can't say she was surprised at the outcome.

Now the two kids were getting even more skeptical about the training.

"Hey, if I do this will I really be able to summon a frog?"

"Of course. Absolutely. Without a doubt." Jiraiya told him. Kumiko sweat-dropped. Yeah, because that's reassuring.

"Are you sure?" Kumiko asked skeptically as she glared at Naruto's mentor. She felt like he was really just wasting their time.

"Is there anything else you've always wanted to do?" Jiraiya asked. "_Anything_?" Naruto was confused, and so was Kumiko…or at least, until Jiraiya punched Naruto, which made him pass out.

Kumiko of course, freaked out. "What did you do that for? Oh my Gods, you're going to kidnap him! Stay away!" Kumiko ordered as she stood in front of Naruto's unconscious body. She got in a stance, prepared to take the Sannin out. Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, it's just easier for me to help him." Jiraiya said as he walked closer to the kids. Kumiko took a step back, her eyes wide.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Kumiko repeated. Jiraiya stopped because he could tell that Kumiko was honestly frightened for her friend. He stared at her.

"You're wasting precious time Kumiko-hime-"

"Quit calling me that!" Kumiko snapped, then glanced down at Naruto, then back at Jiraiya. "Is this honestly how you plan on training him? How do I know you won't kill him?" Jiraiya laughed.

"If I planned on killing him, I'd obviously kill you too." He simply answered. Kumiko glared, not liking his joke. Jiraiya, sensing that she wasn't happy, quit laughing. "Alright, come on. We're wasting time."

They had a stare down for a minute, until Kumiko sighed and moved so Jiraiya could pick Naruto up, which he did.

"Come on then."

She remained suspicious as the two walked. No way was she getting close to him. He's absolutely bonkers! Eventually, they reached the spot Jiraiya wanted. Jiraiya dropped Naruto on the ground, and not very nicely. Kumiko hissed at him to be nicer. It seemed to awake Naruto as he slowly got up.

"Where are we?" He asked, dazed. "Tell me."

"Stand up, Naruto." Kumiko said as she walked over. He did that.

"What's going on?"

"Your training ends right here." Jiraiya spoke. Naruto didn't seem pleased, and Kumiko actually didn't either. What was this creepy perv thinking?

"But I haven't done anything!"

"No! Starting now you must stare death in the face!" Jiraiya told him.

"Death?!" Kumiko shouted. So he _is_ planning on killing Naruto!

"That's right. To stave off the horror of death, you must release enormous chakra. Once you experience that, you'll understand how to release the red chakra." Jiraiya continued. Kumiko paused. Red chakra? What's that? She didn't know chakras were colored. "If you don't wish to die, do something about it. Now."

He pushed Naruto by the forehead, and it sent him flying. Kumiko screamed out his name as she ran towards the direction Jiraiya had flicked Naruto. Her eyes widened as she saw him standing off the very edge of a huge chasm. She repeated his name, as he fell down.

"NARUTO!"

* * *

**Updated! So, how did you guys like it? I meant to update 3 days ago, but as always, life got in the way! Sorry! Next chapter will be the other half of this. Kumiko learns the truth of why people don't like Naruto! And, sees Lee again! Along with another face she never wanted to see again!**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko truly cares for Naruto. She doesn't usually listen to what other people say about people. Except her father. She will always and only listen to him and his opinions on things. But, since actually meeting Naruto, she has come to care for him.**

**Question: Do you guys actually like Kumiko's character? I tried really hard to make her seem normal, like everyone else in the anime/manga, and definitely not a Mary-Sue type of OC. I haven't had any complaints so far but I just want to know if you guys actually like her. Is she too lame? **


	16. Gaara's A Demon Too?

Jiraiya walked next to her calmly. Her eyes were wide in fear, absolutely terrified that he was going to do it to her too.

"What did you do?!" She screamed. "He's going to die!" She felt her eyes begin to water as she looked down into the chasm. "Naruto!" She shouted down it. She couldn't hear anything. Her heart stopped. She just witnessed one of the Sannin kill her friend. She turned to Jiraiya and ran towards him. "He trusted you!"

She tried kicking him, but he was able to dodge it. In fact, he was able to dodge every kick and punch that she threw at him. But not once did he try hitting her back. Eventually, he was able to grab one of her arms, and twisted it gently, which in turn made her whole body twist. Jiraiya grabbed her other arm to keep her still.

"Just let me explain." Jiraiya said calmly as he held her. "I didn't kill Naruto. If anything, this is giving him a boost."

Kumiko felt tears running down her face as she yanked herself out of his grip. She ran a couple yards away from him, and stared. Jiraiya tensed, noticing the tears. "How is throwing him down a huge chasm, 'giving him a boost'?" She sarcastically asked. Jiraiya stared at her and then sat down.

"Sit down. I think there are some things we need to discuss." He said. She stared at him. He gestured to the ground. "Sit." Terrified of angering him, she did as he asked. "How much do you know about Naruto?" She frowned. Only what others have told her really.

"Honestly…nothing." She mumbled. Jiraiya didn't seem surprised. "The adults are terrified of him, and in turn, it makes their kids scared. The only reason I'm friends with him, is because I don't see him as dangerous. He's such a kid." She looked down. "How can adults be scared of a kid like him?"

Jiraiya was silent.

Kumiko lifted her head up, a suspicious look on her face. "Why though? Do you know _why_ they're scared of him?" She questioned.

Jiraiya carefully looked around them. "Alright look, I'm about to tell you some stuff about Naruto, that you can't repeat to anyone." He started, making Kumiko raise an eyebrow. What? "Naruto is a jinchuriki." She gave him a blank look.

"What's that?"

Jiraiya fell over at the question. "Okay well, in our world, there are these creatures called the Tailed Beast. There are 9 of them. When Naruto was born, one had been sealed in him, to protect the village, and technically, the world."

Kumiko shook her head. "I still don't understand." Jiraiya sighed.

"Each beast has a certain amount of tails. There's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9." Jiraiya continued. "Each tail adds more power. Naruto, happens to have the nine tails in him." Kumiko's mouth slowly opened as she realized that's why Naruto was feared. The beast inside him was the most powerful out of all of the tailed beast.

"So the villagers are scared of him using the beast's power to destroy the village?" She questioned. Jiraiya nodded. She scowled. "Why though? He doesn't have a reason to." She paused, and her scowl got bigger. "Well actually, he kind of does."

The villagers are scared and always mean to him. Why would you outcast something that has that much power? It gives them more reason to use their power against them! If they treated Naruto with care, he would definitely have no reason to ever bring harm to the village.

"Naruto doesn't know how to control the Kyuubi's power." Jiraiya told her. She paused and thought it over, and bit her lip.

"So it could accidentily come out?" She asked. Jiraiya nodded. Kumiko frowned. "Why when he was born though? And why Naruto? I doubt his parents would have allowed this! Actually, his parents aren't even around. I don't understand. None of this adds up."

Jiraiya sighed as he crossed his arms at the stream of questions that came spewing out of the young girl's mouth. "That's for another time. For now, I think we should just wait for Naruto to come back up." Kumiko stared. She didn't like this one bit.

There was a loud crash that came from the bottom of the chasm. Kumiko gasped as she quickly crawled over to look down it. Jiraiya stood next to her, as they both peeked. Down the chasm, was this humongous toad, and Naruto, was walking around on top of it. No joke, this thing was probably a hundred times bigger than Naruto! Jiraiya chuckled.

"Looks like he was able to release the chakra of the Kyuubi all on his own." He said, sounding rather proud. Naruto could be heard cheering that he was finally able to summon a toad and not a tadpole. Kumiko's eyes were wide as she stared. Were toads supposed to be that big?!

Suddenly though, the toad jumped up quickly. Kumiko didn't have enough time to react as Jiraiya grabbed her and pulled her in close, to keep her from flying off somewhere else. A huge gust of wind hit them. When it subsided, there was a huge boom sounded, and another large gust of wind.

"My hair…" Kumiko mumbled as she pulled herself out of Jiraiya's arms and tried patting her hair down to normal.

"Well, looks like he reached to top thanks to Gamabunta." Jiraiya muttered as they turned to look over to where the huge toad landed. "We should head on over…" He trailed off, hearing the sound of women freaking out. Quickly, he stuck his head through the bushes to peek.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kumiko snapped as she tried kicking him. "Shouldn't we go meet with Naruto?" Jiraiya giggled.

"Sorry, but I have too much research to do here. You go check on him." Jiraiya waved her off, making her glare.

"Whatever. I needed to visit the hospital anyways. Might as well go now." She sighed. "See ya." Jiraiya gave some sort of good-bye sound, but was too interested in the women to actually look her way. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smile that slowly crawled onto her face. This guy sure was something else.

So, instead of waiting around, she left.

When she reached the hospital, it was already nighttime, and the hospital was supposed to close soon. Kumiko was arguing with the lady, trying to convince her to let her visit Lee.

"Please, he's my best friend! I visit him every day but was too caught up in my training to visit earlier!" Kumiko begged. Yeah right! More like Naruto's training! But hey! The girl's desperate.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that." The front desk lady said, an annoyed look on her face. "Please leave, you're making a scene." Kumiko frowned and turned away, muttering some obscenities under her breath as she started exiting the building. Wow! Okay than!

Standing outside, she looked around, wondering how she was going to get into Lee's room. No way was she going to allow this woman to keep her from seeing him! She paused, feeling an idea pop into her head. The window! That's right! She always leaves the window unlocked so that Lee can get fresh air!

The journey to the window was rather simple. Thankfully, no one noticed a small girl scaling the side of the building. Slipping into the room, Kumiko took her shoes off and set them down. Making herself comfortable on the chair besides Lee's bed, she grasped his hand gently.

Lee was soundly sleeping, his face making a slight twitch at the movements. She wondered how many times he's tried sneaking out of his room today. Suddenly, a wave of nauseous came over her, as she grasped her head. Wow, sleep was really calling out to her. She knew she shouldn't do that though, since she's definitely get in trouble if they found her there. But, she couldn't help it, and did it anyways.

Her head gently resting on Lee's stomach, she slept.

The morning was nice and silent. All was peaceful in the village. Well, except for a certain red haired genin, whose blood lust was quite strong. What a great way to start the day! Not!

Kumiko had fallen asleep in the hospital room. The top half of her was leaning on Lee's stomach, while the bottom half of her was still in the chair. She never heard the door open, nor the sand shinobi slowly sliding his sand around the boy in front of her, ready to kill. Instead, she remained soundly asleep.

The boy was glaring at the two bodies in the room, disgusted. He couldn't help it. They looked so peaceful. It was sickening. As he went to close his hand, he realized, he couldn't.

"I can't move…my body." Gaara said in shock as he tried squeezing his palm.

"Ahhh!" Naruto could be heard, giving out a huge grunt as he punched Gaara in the face. Shikamaru gave out a shout of pain. **That** definitely woke Kumiko up! She let out a small scream as she threw herself back, away from Lee's body, and onto the ground. Her eyes were wide as she stared around the room. "What the heck do you think you're doing in here?! You rat!"

Kumiko blinked a few times, trying to understand what was happening. Shikamaru, Naruto, and Gaara were all in the room with her and Lee. Gaara's eyes were wide, Naruto was angry, and Shikamaru was grasping his face. Lee, was still sound asleep.

"N...aruto? S-shikamaru?" Kumiko mumbled.

"Hey man, go easy. I'm using my Shadow Possession jutsu, so when you're bashing him, you're bashing me too!" Shikamaru snapped at Naruto. "You got it?"

"Oh…sorry Shikamaru." Naruto said awkwardly. He turned to Kumiko, who was still staring. "Are you okay, Kumiko?"

Said girl started feeling around her body, trying to find damage. "I-I think so. What's going on?" Naruto glared as he pointed at Gaara.

"This creep was trying to harm you and Bushy Brow!" He shouted. Kumiko's eyes widened as her heart pounded harder. He was going to hurt them? While they were both unconscious?! What the hell?! Kumiko quickly jumped up and stood in front of Lee, her arms spread, ready to protect the boy. Amazingly, he was still asleep…and still had sand all over him. Kumiko noticed that she still had sand on her. Not as much though. "Out with it, what were you trying to pull?"

Gaara remained silent.

"What were you going to do?" Kumiko quietly asked as she stared at him.

"I was going to kill him." Gaara said darkly. Kumiko gasped slightly as she noticed he used the word, 'him', instead of 'them'. Does that mean that he only intended on killing Lee? If so, why did she have sand on herself too?

"You already beat him once in the competition," Shikamaru said steely. "What's your problem? Wasn't that enough for you? Do you have some personal grudge against him or something?"

"I have nothing against him…it's nothing that complicated. I want to kill him. It's as simple as that." Gaara replied. Kumiko inhaled sharply. Was killing people just a game to this kid?

"You're sick in the head!" Kumiko shouted as she pointed at Gaara, the same time that Naruto screamed that the kid was crazy.

"Yeah, you think we're gonna just stand by and let you do whatever you want? You sick selfish psycho! I bet Lee wasn't the only person you were going to kill. After all, Kumiko's here too. You were probably going to take her out next!" Shikamaru hissed.

"If you don't stay out of my way, I'll have to kill you too, as well." Gaara told them.

"Oh really?!" Naruto shouted, trying to take a step towards the red head. "Well let's just see you try!"

"Hey whoa kid, take it easy!" Shikamaru said as he went to put his hand out to stop Naruto. That enabled Gaara to move his hand out too, closer to Kumiko. Said girl gasped lightly as she leaned away from it, absolutely dreading what he would do if he got hold of her. Shikamaru, realizing what happened, quickly put his hand back down. "Yeah yeah, we watched your last match against Lee, we know you're tough. But you know, Naruto and I have a few tricks up our sleeves as well."

"Kumiko's probably got more since she's trained more than us! Don't even think about touching _her_!" Naruto shouted as he stomped his foot on the ground. Kumiko sweat-dropped. Was he _trying_ to get her killed?

"Naruto…please…"

"We were holding back during the competition." Shikamaru continued. "There are things you haven't seen yet. On top of that, hey it's three against one, so don't be a fool with that. Just take my advice, and go. _Quietly_." Gaara didn't like that.

"I'll say it once more. If you get in my way, I'll kill you."

"And I'll say it again! Let's see you try it!" Naruto shouted.

"Quit Naruto!" Kumiko ordered as she held her arm out this time to keep the boy from making sudden movements. "We don't want to do that unless absolutely necessary!"

"This guy fights like he's mad! Like he's a demon or something!" Shikamaru added as he strained to keep Naruto in check.

"He can act like a demon all he wants to, but you know what? I got the real thing inside of me!" Naruto smirked. The girl in the room rolled her eyes. Seriously?

"Idiot, leave this to me! What's the point in getting him mad?" Shikamru said as he elbowed Naruto. Gaara was quiet as he thought over a certain word that Naruto said.

"A demon huh? My demon is as real as yours is." Gaara stated. Kumiko's mouth opened a little as she thought over what he said. Naruto's demon is he Kyuubi. Was Gaara's demon a tailed beast too? "My upbringing was not one that most people would consider a happy one. To ensure I became a strong shinobi, my father had cast his ninjutsu on me, infusing my unborn self with the sand spirit. I destroyed the life of the woman who gave birth to me,"

Kumiko felt her heart drop. So Gaara killed his mom in birth too? Wow, they actually had something in common.

"I was born a monster." Gaara continued. "Its name is Shukaku and it's the living incarnation of an old monk in Suna that's been sealed up in a jar of tea."

"Yeah? Some kind of demonic jutsu. But to use it on a baby, before it's even born? Man that's creepy. Gee, what a swell guy your dad must have been. He must have loved you a lot." Shikamaru antagonized. Kumiko paused as she felt her head beginning to hurt. What was going on? Why was she getting a headache _now_ of all times?!

"You speak of love?" Gaara asked darkly. "Don't measure me by your standards. Love. Family. The only emotional ties I have to my family, are the ones I like to wrap around their necks. They're only ties of hate." The other three conscious genin gasped. "Given life by the death of my mother, I was brought into being and nurtured as the salvation of the village. I was the Kazekage child."

The Kazekage? That's the leader equivalent of the Hokage! Holy crap, she hung out with the Kazekage's kid that one day, and lost to another, and the last one just tried killing her best friend and possibly her! Obviously the Kazekage, didn't know how to raise kids sanely…

"My father taught me the inner most secrets of the shinobi. He pampered and protected me, and left me to myself. For a time, I thought _that _was love. And that, was when everything started." Gaara said.

"When what started?" Kumiko quietly asked as she tried keeping her eyes open. Her head was killing her! Gaara glanced at her. "Well? Are you going to tell us or not?"

"Go on!" Naruto snapped as he noticed the look Gaara was giving his friend. It didn't sit well with him. "When what started? Tell us!"

"In the six years since I've became six years old, my father's tried to destroy me more times than I can count!" Gaara said, his face filled with blood lust. The three conscious genin shivered as they stared at him.

Since he was six?! What kind of father goes around, putting demons in his kid, and then tries killin him later on?! No wonder this kid was messed up!

Shikamaru was not so easily persuaded though. "You just finished saying how your father pampered and protected you. So which is it?"

"Those who get to be too strong, are apt to becoming feared. The jutsu that gave me birth had unbalanced something in my mind. Even the fools of my village finally realized…I had…emotional problems." Gaara told them. Kumiko frowned.

"Sounds more like you have daddy issues." She hissed. Gaara glared at her.

"My father the Kazekage had created me as his ultimate weapon, but I eventually became a threat to the very village I was meant to save. By the time I was six, I became a figure of terror to the villagers. To them, I was a relic of the past they'd wish would disappear. So you see, I had failed at the one purpose to which I was given life. What then was left of me in this existence? Why go on living? For a long time, I couldn't find an answer to that. But in order to live, you need a purpose. To live for no reason, is the same as being dead." He spoke.

Kumiko looked away. Did _she_ have a purpose in life? Honestly, she didn't really have any goals besides protecting Lee and Neji, along with the village. She didn't even remember wanting to be a shinobi originally. It seemed like she just magically enrolled into the Academy. Well, it's not very surprising. Most people don't have that many memories from that age anyways. Wasn't she like...five when she was enrolled? Yeah, definitely wouldn't remember then. Surprisingly, she can only remember when she was age 7 and up. Good enough for her!

"Then in time the answer came to me. To put it simply, my reason in living is the killing of others. For years I lived in fear of those who were sent to murder me. But now, I am at peace. I killed many would be assassins, and it was while I was doing it that the truth became clear to me. I live solely for myself. I love only myself, as it was the death of my mother that gave me life, it is the death of others that sustains me, that makes me almost happy to be alive."

Kumiko wanted to throw up hearing those words coming from a kid who was only a year younger than her. What if this was how Naruto grew up?! Is this how every jinchuriki grows up?

"And there's no end to it. As long as there are still people to kill in this great wide crowded world, I will never disappear."

Everyone was silent as the information of Gaara sunk into them. Kumiko's eyes were wide, her heart pounding heavily. No wonder this kid was insane.

Naruto suddenly took a step back. He was shaking.

"Hey!" Shikamaru snapped as he turned to look. "Where you going? What's wrong?!"

Kumiko gasped suddenly, making the two boys turn to look at her, and they gasped also. Gaara has regained control over his sand and was waving it around. Kumiko noticed Naruto was staring in fear towards Gaara. Shikamaru was trying to snap the blond boy out of it. Kumiko got in a stance, ready to fight.

"Now, let me feel alive!" Gaara exclaimed, throwing sand towards Naruto and Shikamaru.

"I won't allow you to hurt any more of my friends!" Kumiko snapped as she quickly rushed over towards the two boys, ready to protect them with her life.

"Incoming!" Shikamaru shouted as Kumiko shoved the two boys onto the ground, putting her fist up to hopefully fling the sand away with taijutsu.

"Alright that's enough." They all heard someone say. Everyone quickly turned to look towards the doorway to see who it was. Kumiko's heart swelled as she realized it was her sensei. "Save it 'til tomorrow. That's when the final competition begins."

Did it really? Holy crap, this month went by fast.

Gai stepped into the room to stare at Gaara. "You're just wasting it today. Is that what you want?"

"Gai-sensei!" Kumiko said as she stared. Quickly remembering that she had shoved Naruto and Shikamaru onto the floor, she bent to help them up. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"It's alright." Naruto said as he smiled gently at her, thankful there was now an adult they could trust in the room.

"Man, what a drag this is." Shikamaru said as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

Gaara clutched his head in agony. The sand was retracting away from a _still_ unconscious Lee. Seriously?! Gaara began slowly leaving the room, but paused at the doorway. "All the same, I will kill you. Just you wait. I'll kill you all."

Kumiko couldn't help the chills that came over her as he spoke those words. Would he really kill them all? He certainly had the power to do it if he wanted to.

"That is one creepy guy." Shikamaru stated as they all were left alone. Kumiko, remembering Lee, quickly rushed over to him, checking to see if he had been harmed at all.

"Don't worry Kumiko. Lee's alright." Gai said as he walked over to look down at his student. "He's too tough to go down that easy." Kumiko said nothing as she stared.

"He almost killed us." She muttered, her face darkening as she bent her head down. "If it wasn't for Shikamaru and Naruto…" She hiccupped. "We wouldn't be here!" It didn't take a genius to realize that Kumiko was quietly crying.

"Kumiko…" Naruto said softly as he watched her. Said girl slowly looked at him, het face all red and tears slowly crawling down her face.

"Naruto please," She spoke as her eyes hardened. "Defeat Neji tomorrow."

"What-"

"You have to defeat him, so that you can defeat Gaara." She continued. "I don't think Sasuke will be able to handle him. The kid's too crazy." She felt a hand land on her shoulder. Knowing it was Gai, she left it.

"Of course," Naruto said as he watched her. "I'll beat them both. Believe it."

Kumiko let a small smile onto her face. Okay, she'll believe it.

"Oh wait, Kumiko!" Gai said as he turned to her with a grin. "I almost forgot. Happy birthday." Kumiko blushed, seeing as how she herself forgot that today actually was her birthday. Naruto and Shikamaru apparently didn't know either.

"It's your birthday? Happy birthday!" Naruto said as he latched onto Kumiko's side in a hug. Shikamaru nodded with a soft smile.

"Yeah, happy birthday."

"Wh

* * *

**Guys and gals! It's Kumiko's birthday today! Now she's 14! Yay! As a special treat I decided to update a few days early. I saw some of you reviewing that you want Kumiko to train more than Tenten, and she definitely will! It's just, it'll mainly be after the time-skip, since you can't really fit new jutsu's within the course of 2 arcs and some fillers. Just, trust me.**

**Fun Fact: Kumiko will get a summon after the time skip! I'll give a hint as to what, It's a summon someone already has.**

**Question: Which kunoichi is your favorite? (I know I did a favorite character, but I'm interested in your favorite kunoichi's. {**Mine would be Tenten, just because she was really underated and I feel if Kishimoto put more effort in her character, she would have been a much more interesting character. I love all the kunoichi's though. They all turned out beautiful in the end})


	17. Naruto VS Neji

The next day was the beginning of the end. The final competitions. The very first match was Naruto and Neji, which was no doubt, going to be a good match. Lots of people had been coming and going into the village all throughout the last 24 hours. Not to mention, last night there was a festival to celebrate the competition.

Kumiko went and walked around with Hinata's team. Thankfully, Hinata was okay after the match between her and Neji. She was walking around and breathing normally.

"Come on dad! We'll be late!" Kumiko shouted as she waited by the door. Her and her father were supposed to go together to watch the match.

"Give me a second. Jeez." Her father shouted back. After the slight incident between him and Naruto, their relationship was a bit rocky. Kumiko kept trying to convince him that Naruto was a perfectly safe person. She even admitted that she knew he was a jinchuriki. Her dad still told her to stay away from him but hey! It's not like she's the type to listen to a parent!

"Finally!" Kumiko shouted in exasperation as her dad appeared from his room. "Yeesh, you take as long as Ino to get ready!" Her dad gave her a look.

"Did you really just compare me to a twelve year old girl?" He deadpanned. Kumiko rolled her eyes.

"Oh whatever. Come on! We have to see Naruto wipe the floor with Neji!" Kumiko shouted as she opened the door and dragged her dad out.

Eventually they reached the arena. It was kind of hard trying to find seats, since there were so many people.

"Kumiko!" She heard someone call for her. She turned and noticed both Ino and Sakura waving for her. Quickly, she made her way over. "We saved you guys some seats." Sakura said as she pointed at the seat beside Ino, and the one behind the seat.

"Thanks you both." Kumiko grinned as she sat in the seat next to Ino, her dad settling down nicely behind.

"Hello sir." Ino said with a smile as she looked towards Gisei.

"Hello Ino, Sakura." He greeted. Sakura greeted him also. The two younger girls turned back to the arena, and Gisei leaned closely to Kumiko. "Do they know they're sitting next to each other?" He asked as he gestured towards them.

Kumiko bit the inside of her cheek as she whispered, "I don't know, let's give it a few minutes."

The competitors were slowly entering the arena. Almost everyone was there, except for Sasuke and Naruto, along with that Dosu guy. Sasuke. She heard that he'd disappeared from his hospital room quite the time ago, and had been missing for the last month. Coincidentally, Kakashi had also been missing. She knew that Kakashi was training him, but didn't think he'd actually ditch his other two genin for a whole month!

"What's going on? Where is everyone? This is about to get started." Ino said as she looked on in worry.

"I don't know, but they better hurry or else they'll be disqualified. Especially Naruto." Kumiko stated as she too, seemed worried. She paused, then glanced at Ino. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

It seemed like there was a loud commotion coming from the entrance to the arena. Her eyes widened as Naruto was sent flying into the arena. Everyone gasped at the sight.

"Naruto!" Sakura said joyfully.

"Yeah but he's totally late. Of course." Ino deadpanned as she crossed her arms. Neither of them expected Kumiko to jump up and holler at the boy.

"You idiot! You're late to something like this, and make an entrance like that?! Hokage's are supposed to have good sense of timing, you know!" She screamed as she waved her arms around. Sakura and Ino sweat-dropped at the older girl. Gisei grabbed her and yanked her back into her seat.

"Stop that. You're getting in people's ways." He reprimanded, then paused. "What do you even mean 'good sense of timing'? No one's ever said that." Kumiko blushed lightly.

"Eh, he'll believe it if you say it." She answered with a slight shrug.

Shikamaru helped Naruto stand up, commenting that it was a drag. Everyone began cheering, excited for the matches to begin.

"Who do you think is going to win the first round?" Ino asked Kumiko suddenly. "I know Neji's your teammate, but haven't you and Naruto become closer in the last month?" Said girl in question bit her lip lightly.

"Honestly, I'd rather Naruto win than Neji. But, not because I care for Naruto more than Neji, which I kinda don't, but because Neji needs a beat down." She said with a small smile. Ino and Sakura giggled at her answer, and Gisei rolled his eyes behind her.

"Welcome all, and our deepest thanks for coming here to Konohagakure, for this year's chunin selection!" Lord Third's voice could be heard from all over the stadium. Kumiko jumped when she heard his voice. Did he have a megaphone or was his voice seriously able to go that loud? "We have come to the final competition, between the eight candidates, who have made it through the preliminaries. We ask that no one leaves until all the matches have been completed. Now everyone, enjoy!"

Kumiko paused. Eight candidates? She only counted seven down there, and there were supposed to be nine altogether, right? What?

"Oh yeah, there's one more thing before we get started," The proctor, Genma, began. He brought out a piece of paper, showing the new tournament. "Look it over."

Kumiko raised an eyebrow as she realized that someone's name was missing from the paper. _Dosu_. Wonder what happened to the guy. Shikamaru was now going to fight Temari.

"Question, uh, question." Naruto spoke up, waving his hand around a little. Genma looked to him, and asked what it was. "I was just wondering what'll happen to Sasuke, I mean, if he doesn't show up."

Kumiko frowned. That's right, he still hasn't shown up yet. Neither has Kakashi. Did they both forget that today was the day the exams resumed?

"If a candidate is not here in the arena at the time his name is called, he forfeits the match." Genma told him. Kumiko nodded slightly. That made sense of course. They wouldn't hold up the whole competition just because someone didn't make it on time. "Alright listen up. The terrain's different but the rules are the same as before."

As Genma began explaining, Kumiko couldn't help the weird feeling in her gut. Why _wasn't_ Sasuke really there yet? Did something bad happen to him? Was he hurt? Honestly, Kumiko didn't _really_ care for the kid, but Sakura and Naruto did, so by default, she'd protect him if needed.

"These are the opponents for the first match." Genma's voice caught Kumiko's attention. It was beginning already? "Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Neji. Those two stay, the rest of you can go to the waiting area."

Everyone did as they were told, leaving Naruto and Neji down on the battlefield. Kumiko glanced over at Sakura, who looked quite down about Sasuke not being there yet.

"Sakura," She said lightly. Said girl didn't look at her, but made a 'hmm', sound. "I know you're worried about Sasuke, but come on, at least cheer Naruto on. He's your teammate too." Sakura smiled lightly, and glanced at her.

"Yeah, you're right." She said. Ino, hearing them, smirked.

"That's more like it. Not that the hopeless runt has a chance of winning." Ino added. Kumiko glared and whacked the girl on the head. "Ow, Kumiko!"

"He's not that bad!" Sakura and Kumiko said in unison. "How would you feel if we said that about Shikamaru?" Kumiko added. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Shikamaru wouldn't lose. He may be lazy, but he's quite brilliant. He's fighting Temari. She may have crushed you, but there's no way she could beat Shikamaru." Ino said, her nose in the air. Kumiko glared slightly at the younger girl.

"The only reason I lost was because I had a huge disadvantage against her!" Kumiko snapped. Gisei, feeling like a fight was about to begin, set his hands on each girl's shoulder.

"Kumiko, Ino, now is not the time to be arguing." He reprimanded. A small spark appeared between the two girls as they stared at each other. Finally, Kumiko turned back to face the arena, a small smirk appearing on her face.

"You're right dad." She stated. Ino pursed her lips, and turned back to look at the arena. Sakura seemed rather helpless through the whole thing that was happening. "They're starting!"

Neji and Naruto stood across from each other. "You got anything to say to me?" Neji asked, a smirk playing on his face. Naruto said nothing, but reached his fist out.

"Only what I told you the last time." He sneered. Kumiko frowned, remembering how Naruto promised to beat Neji. Hopefully he'll keep that. "I vow to win!"

"So much the better for me. I can't wait to see the look of despair on your face, when you learn your foolish vow, is impossible to keep." Neji said, as he got in a stance. Suddenly, the wind picked up. Kumiko put her arm up to her face, trying to keep her hair from getting in her eyes.

"Are we gonna stand here talking all day? Let's get going. Show me what you got!" Naruto demanded.

"Alright, the first match, begin!"

Everyone began cheering. It was tense, and quiet for about half a minute, until, Naruto finally attacked first, throwing weapons towards Neji, who was able to block them. He then ran towards Neji. Kumiko shook her head, knowing Naruto was _already_ starting off badly. A frontal attack is really hard to get Neji with.

The two started fist fighting, seeing who could land the first hit. "Naruto, look out!" Sakura screamed as she jumped out of her seat. Neji got close to Naruto, and hit him with the palm of his hand. Naruto lost his breath, giving Neji the advantage, as he went in to begin sealing his chakra points. "Naruto! He can see your chakra points!"

"Get away from him, Naruto!" Kumiko screamed as she too, jumped up. It was really close, but Naruto was able to dodge him.

"Do you understand now? You have no way of beating me." Neji said with an arrogant look as he stared at Naruto. Said blond boy, gave a small laugh.

"Get real, I was just checking you out, that's all." He spoke, pulling himself off the ground. "Okay, now that we're warmed up, we can started! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Immediately, four more Naruto's appeared. Kumiko grinned as she watched him. Leave it to Naruto to pull this.

"You got this Naruto!" Kumiko shouted as she waved her arm.

"No matter, you can't hide for long." Neji stated, then glanced up at where Kumiko was. A tick mark appeared on his head. Why was she cheering for Naruto, and not him? They're supposed to be teammates!

"Ha! We'll just see about that!" All five Naruto's said at the same time.

"Well come on!" Neji taunted. Four of the Naruto's began making their way towards Neji, but he was able to dodge them all as the last one went running towards him. He was almost able to land a solid kick to Neji's jaw.

"He got him!" Sakura shouted, but Kumiko shook her head. She saw Neji was able to dodge it. Neji kicked a couple clones, and one of them disappeared. Then, he hit them with his palms, and two more disappeared.

"Oh no…" Kumiko mumbled. Neji walked over to the last shadow clone, and it disappeared. He was staring at the ground.

"You thought you could be Hokage? It's absurd. Never." Neji stated, then looked to Naruto, a smirk on his face. "These eyes of mine show me many things. One thing they've shown me; people's limitations are set, fixed, and unchangeable. Only a fool would waste his time trying to become something he could never be." Naruto seemed strained as he heard those words.

"A fool huh? Here we go again. Who are you to judge what a person can and can't be?" Naruto questioned.

"Do you think anyone can be Hokage? That all it takes is a little 'hard work'? Open your eyes, of all the shinobi in all the world, think of how few become Hokage. They were born, destined to be Hokage. It's not something you become by simply _trying_ to become it. They were chosen, by destiny." Neji stated. Ino looked to Kumiko.

"He sure does talk about destiny a lot." She commented. Kumiko frowned and sighed.

"He's…just being weird." She told her. Ino stared at her, but said nothing more.

"Each person is given his own path to follow. And he must follow it, obediently. To the end. There is only one destiny we all share equally." Kumiko's heart dropped as she noticed the hatred in Neji's eyes. She knew where that hatred was towards. The main branch of the Hyuuga clan. The whole reason that he did not care much for Hinata.

"**Death.**"

That didn't sit well with Naruto. "Yeah, so what? You can think that way if you want," He held his fist out again. "People always tell me I just don't know when to give up!" He used Shadow Clone Jutsu again. This time, there were _many_ more.

They all began charging towards Neji, who was able to dodge, and start fighting them.

"You think I can be fooled with a trick like that?" Neji questioned rhetorically, charging through all the Naruto's. He hit a Naruto all the way at the back. "You're the one keeping out of range for fear of my striking your chakra points; like this. The more the others attack, the more _you_ stand out for holding back. You're the real one, aren't you?"

The Naruto clones began disappearing.

"Oh Naruto…" Kumiko whispered. Ino seemed a bit angry beside her.

"What is up with this guy? It's like he has no weakness! How can Naruto even beat him?!" She questioned, gripping her knees with her hands. Gisei frowned.

"Everyone has a weakness. Neji's just good at hiding his." He answered. "The match is as good as over."

"I told you it was pointless." Neji stated. Naruto chuckled lightly, and lifted his head.

"Oh yeah? And I told _you_ it was a mistake to count me out." He stated, then disappeared. Kumiko's jaw dropped as she gasped.

"It was a clone?!" She cried out. That seemed to shock everyone in the stadium.

"But how-?" Neji quietly said in shock himself. Two Naruto's appeared behind him, and he turned.

"Let's go Naruto!" Kumiko screamed.

"You thought I'd be too much of a chicken to attack you myself? Well think again!" Naruto shouted, throwing a punch towards Neji's face. He caught him though, and began twirling. Both Naruto's were thrown to the side, one disappearing. "Huh? What was that?"

"Did you really think you' won?" Neji asked.

"What happened?" Ino questioned.

"That punch of Naruto's should have flattened him." Sakura stated. They both turned to Kumiko. "Kumiko?" Said girl was staring down at the arena in awe. Never before had she seen Neji use a move like that. Was it something he learned during the time they weren't talking?

"I…don't know." She said hesitantly. "I'd never seen him use that." Naruto, not dissuaded, stood up again, and made more shadow clones…again. They all surrounded Neji. Kumiko sighed. "Neji can see almost 360 degrees with his byakugan. He can detect any attack as soon as it's launched."

She pursed her lips.

"I think Hiashi-sama told me about this move once." She continued. "It's called the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. It's a defensivee move the Hyuuga use. He must have learned it over the month."

"So it's used for defense, huh?" Sakura mumbled as they all turned back to the arena. Neji spun again, but this time, it seemed to hurt Naruto. "Looks like it's also used for offense though."

Kumiko shifted in her seat. "I don't exactly _all_ about it, but I think he uses the spin to repel the attacks. Normally, chakra emitted from chakra points is difficult to control. Even jounin can utilize chakra in a single body part at a time, like the hands or feet, but Neji's mastery of the jutsu is so great, he's capable of emitting chakra from several places, using a ton of attacks from different places."

"That's why he's known as a genius, and rookie of the year, last year." Gisei added with a nod.

"It's weird though. As far as I knew, only Hiashi-sama could use the move. I don't know how he learned it." Kumiko stated, frowning.

"Hiashi-sama is Hinata's dad, and the only one who can use it, right?" Ino questioned. Kumiko nodded. "So that must mean Neji learned it from him." Now, she shook her head.

"No way. Neji isn't a big fan of Hiashi-sama, and there's no way he would teach that to Neji. It's only used for the main branch." She told her. "He had to have self-taught it to himself." She wondered if that would get him in trouble with his clan.

Their attention was back down to the arena now. "This is the end for you." Neji said as Naruto struggled to stand up from the ground. "You're in range, and you can't escape my Eight Trigram." He got in a stance. "Gentle Fist Art; Eight Trigrams 64-Palms." He took off for Naruto, and began sealing his chakra points. Finally, he sealed the last one, and Naruto was sent flying onto his back.

"It's over, Neji won." Kumiko mumbled as she stared down at the scene.

Genma walked to the two boys. "Looks like it's over."

"I have now struck all 64 of your chakra points," Neji stated as he stared at Naruto. "You're lucky to still be breathing. Well, must be frustrating, to realize how utterly hopeless it was, this dream of yours. You thought you could succeed through hard work alone. That's only an illusion."

"What a fool! I almost thought he could win!" Ino exclaimed, exasperated. Kumiko glared at the younger girl, and whacked her on the head. Sakura softly said Naruto's name.

"No way." Naruto said softly, laying on the ground. Everyone's mouths slowly opened, hearing that the boy was still conscious. He stood up, barely. Kumiko covered her mouth with her hand. How could he still stand?

"Impossible." Neji said, glaring. "How could he…?"

Naruto spoke softly, "I told you, I just don't know when to give up." Neji looked amazed.

"It can't be…stop this madness." Neji ordered. "You'll only get more of the same. I have nothing against _you_ personally."

Naruto scoffed. "That's touching, you're gonna make me cry." Kumiko smiled lightly at Naruto's sarcasm. This boy sure was a touch nut to crack. "Anyway, I've got _plenty_ against you."

"I don't know what you mean." Neji stated. Kumiko knew though. Everyone who was at the preliminaries knew.

"You don't?" Naruto asked, stunned that Neji was so clueless. "And here I thought you were Mr. Know It All. You don't remember what you did to Hinata, huh? The way you worked on her with your mind games? Tearing her down when she worked so hard to get here!"

"Never mind that, it doesn't concern you." Neji tried, but Naruto wouldn't let him.

"You mocked Hinata, calling her a failure! All that stuff about the great Hyuuga clan, main household, branch families, who cares?! It doesn't give you the right to decide who's a failure! _That's_ what I've got against you!" He snapped then glared.

"Oh Naruto…" Kumiko mumbled.

"Oh yeah, and don't forget about Kumiko! She and I trained together, and you know what? She would always bring up the good memories of training with you, and Bushy Brow. But she couldn't, because Bushy Brow is in the hospital, and you were off training by yourself. She was _alone_!" Naruto continued. Immediately, Kumiko blushed and jumped up.

"Don't bring that stuff up Naruto!" She screamed, totally embaressed that he would say that in front of all these people. Besides, it's not exactly like Neji totally ignored her, it was mainly she who ignored him, but only because of his actions. Neji just didn't bother seeking her out either.

Both boys ignored her outburst, and glared at each other. "You both trained together, huh? Very well then, as you're so interested, I'll tell you about the Hyuuga Clan's heritage of hatred!"

Kumiko froze. Wait, he was going to start talking about that? Right _now_? In front of all these people?

"For generations, the main household of this clan has practiced a secret jutsu, known as the Curse Mark Jutsu." Neji began. Naruto repeated the name. "The curse mark is the symbol…of a bird locked in its cage. It's the mark of those who are bound to a destiny that they cannot escape." He began taking his hitai-ate off. It revealed the curse mark.

Kumiko shut her eyes tight, remembering the first time she heard about the mark, and when she had seen it. It wasn't a very pretty memory. She had been so angry at the Hyuuga for what they'd done to Neji, especially since he was a young kid. But, it's not like she'd have been able to change it. After all, she's just a civilian. Neither her father nor she holds any power in this village.

"That's the curse mark?" Naruto questioned.

"I was four years old, when the leaders of the clan branded this mark on my forehead with the Curse jutsu," Neji started. "On that same day, a great celebration took place in Konoha. After many years, the war, a peace agreement, at last had been reached with Kumogakure, and they had sent the head cloud ninja to sign the treaty, and join in the celebration.

"Everyone was there to welcome our old enemies. Every genin, and jounin, in Konoha. Only one clan was absent. The Hyuuga clan, because this was the day the heir to the main household was to turn three. It was Hinata-sama's third birthday. Her father, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama, is sitting up there. He and _my _father, Hizashi, are twin brothers; and yet, _he_ entered into the world first, so _he_ if head of the family. The first born, while my father, his twin brother, is banished to a lesser branch of the family."

Ino and Sakura were looking to Kumiko with horrified looks. She couldn't bear to look them in the eye. Of course Sakura wouldn't know anything about the Hyuuga clan, since she too, comes from a civilian family, but Ino, who's from a popular clan, hadn't known either. Not that she's surprised. The Hyuuga are a very secretive clan.

"It was then, on the day the heir to the main household turned three that the curse mark was put on me and I was made a bird in a cage, by my own uncle." Neji continued.

This was why she rarely had spoken to Hiashi-sama. Neji didn't like her talking to him, so she would refrain from it, only speaking to him when she would wait on Neji to leave to a mission with their team. Sometimes she would ask Hinata information, but even she, rarely knew anything.

Neji's main purpose in life is to protect and serve Hinata and the main Hyuuga clan. That was all she knew, and was supposed to know. That, is why she understood that she and Neji could never be together, and had given up.

"You and this clan of yours, what's the point of it all? Why have a main family, and a branch family? And this weird curse mark; what's it mean anyway?" Naruto questioned.

Neji glared. "I can assure you one thing; it's not just for decoration. You see, this is more than a mark that we wear. It is also the instrument by which they keep up in our place. We live with the fear that they will use this curse mark to turn our brains to jelly anytime they wish. Fear. That is what we live with, and we live with it every day. Only in death, are we free of it. This is how the power of the byakugan is kept sealed away.

"Only the Hyuuga possess the secret formula of this kekkei genkai, and of course there are many who would steal it from us. That is why we exist. It is the purpose of the branch family to defend that secret and to serve the keepers of that secret; the main household, obediently, without question, for eternity. That, is our destiny. Or was. Until that dreadful night. They went too far, when they murdered my father."

Everyone in the stadium was shocked. They were all learning this information about the Hyuuga clan's secrets. Kumiko wanted him to stop. _Needed _him to, but no, he just kept going, not even thinking about the possible consequences that could come with him telling people this.

"One night," Neji continued. "Someone entered the main household and abducted Hinata-sama. Hiashi-sama quickly caught and killed the man. And who was this intruder? Stealing through the shadows in the dead of night? Wearing a mask over his face? It was none other than the head Cloud ninja of Kumo. The man who had _just_ signed an alliance with us. It was obvious to everyone that he was after the secret of the byakugan. But Kumo professed shock at this willful murder of their ninja. They claimed that Konoha was in violation of the treaty, and they demanded recompense. Things got worse and worse, until war looked like it would break out anew.

"Konoha wanted above all things to avoid a war. So at last, they made a deal. A life, for a life. Kumo demanded the death of the person who slain their ninja. If there was to be peace, Hiashi-sama must die. Konoha accepted their terms. And so to avert a war, a man was killed, but not Hiashi. My father, his twin brother, was killed in his place, in order to protect the main household! Only in death my father finally free of this evil curse mark. They were so much alike, twin brothers. But, their destiny's had been determined, long ago, when one was born a few seconds after the other. And this match, is the same. Your destiny was decided the moment _I_ was chosen as your opponent."

It was silent, except for Naruto's heavy breathing. Kumiko was staring down at the two of them, her eyes heavy. Neji put his headband back over his forehead, concealing his curse mark.

"Okay, so your father was killed a long time ago, and I know it wasn't fair, and maybe you're upset about that, I understand. But that's got nothing to do with destiny!" Naruto exclaimed. "If you think I'm buying that, you're wrong."

Neji tightly secured his headband. "You will never understand." He simply said, then took off running towards Naruto again. He force palmed Naruto's stomach, sending the younger boy flying backwards. "Proctor, it's over." He turned around. "Hn. You're a failure."

"W-wait. Don't walk away from me." Naruto spoke, struggling to get up. "I'm not done yet. I don't quit, and I don't go back on my word. That's my ninja way." Neji stared at him, then smirked.

"Huh, I've heard those words before." He said, clearly thinking of when Hinata said those exact words to him.

"You and your stupid destiny," Naruto mumbled. "Well, if you really believe it, why are _you_ the one walking away?"

"You impudent little brat." Neji scoffed. "Why waste my breath explaining it to _you_? We are all given a destiny at birth, and it's pointless to go against it. You don't know what it's like to be branded with a mark that sets you apart. A mark that can _never_ be wiped away!"

Kumiko tightened her fist so much, that her knuckles were turning white. Naruto did know. He did, and it wasn't fair that he knew what it was like. It wasn't fair that Neji knew either. It's not fair, for Gaara. It's not fair, for anyone.

Naruto was breathing heavily. "Oh yeah, I know what that's like. Well, big deal, who cares?" He questioned. Neji glared daggers.

"You worthless little-"

"Man," Naruto cut him off. "You think you've got troubles? I've got news for you Neji, you're not the only special one around here. Did you ever think Hinata might be suffering like you are? It's not her fault her father was born ahead of yours. But you resent her for it, you disrespect her for it, even when she's trying so hard to improve herself. All she wanted was _your_ respect. That's what she was fighting for, even though it almost killed her. And what was that all about anyway? I thought it was your destiny to _serve_ the main household. Not beat it to a bloody pulp!"

"That's what I said." Kumiko mumbled quietly as she watched the scene. Neji had a chance to beat Hinata as much as he could, without getting in trouble for it, and he took it.

"After all you've said how you can't fight your destiny, you don't really believe in it either, do you?!" They stared at each other, and Naruto coughed, some blood exiting his mouth.

"Heh, I have blocked all 64 of your chakra points." Neji stated. "How are you planning on fighting when you can't use your chakra against me? It's fitting that you sympathize with Hinata because you're about to share her fate."

"Oh really?" Naruto rhetorically asked. "You think that byakugan of yours sees everything! You know everyone's weakness, right?"

"That's right, but if you think _you're_ the one who can prove me wrong, well, be my guest."

"You got it. I'm going to show you you're wrong about a lot of things. Starting now!" Naruto snapped. He still looked a bit weakened. Suddenly, his face took one of awe. What was he going to do?

"Proctor, this has gone on long enough. I suggest you stop the match. If he's foolish enough to continue to fight, I will not be responsible for what happens to him." Neji stated. Naruto gave a small chuckle, and moved his hands to do a sign. "It's pointless, I've told you. Why bother, you have no chakra to use. Why fight a hopeless battle, trying to defy your destiny."

"Cause people called me a failure. I'll prove them wrong." Naruto said in a deadly voice. Suddenly, chakra began building around him. Kumiko gasped lightly as she realized it was the Kyuubi's chakra he was using. Neji seemed absolutely confused, considering he thought he had sealed all of Naruto's chakra.

The chakra was almost like a wind force, pushing at Neji. Soon, it died down, and seemed to encase Naruto. He took off, his speed was amazing. Naruto appeared behind Neji, and threw shuriken, but Neji was able to block them by rotating. Naruto jumped down towards Neji, who had taken his own shuriken out, and thrown them at Naruto in a certain pattern.

"Hey, that's my move!" Kumiko exclaimed as she glared at Neji.

He missed, each of the shuriken impaling themselves into the wall. Then, the two tried attacking each other, until they were separated.

"Okay you, so I hear you like close combat?" Naruto questioned him. Kumiko blushed lightly, remembering that she had told Naruto a couple days ago, that her team was made up of skilled close combat people. Whoops. Naruto ran towards Neji, kunai in hand. "It may be the Hyuuga way to cave into destiny, but it's not mine! If you think it's feudal to fight, then don't, take it! I'll change the way of the Hyuuga clan,"

They clashed.

"**After I become Hokage!"**

A loud explosion happened, and everyone's mouths were dropped. When the explosion cleared, it appeared the arena was in shambles. There were two large craters on the ground, one for Naruto, and one for Neji.

"Which one's Naruto?" Sakura asked as the three girls, along with Gisei, peered down at the scene.

"Don't ask me, I don't even know what happened just now!" Ino replied.

A hand appeared out of one. Kumiko frowned, knowing whose hand it was. Neji pulled himself out of it, coughing. He tried walking to where Naruto was, but seemed to be struggling. Then, everyone could see Naruto's body, laying there. Kumiko gasped. He wasn't dead, was he?

"Sorry, but this is reality. You're a failure, this match is over-"

Suddenly, there was a loud crumbling from beneath Neji, and everyone looked down. It was Naruto! He flew up from underneath, and landed a solid punch to Neji's chin, throwing the boy a mile away.

"Holy crap, did you see that?!" Kumiko screamed as she grabbed onto Ino's arm, in complete shock. She was _not_ expecting that! "He dug underground!"

"I…can't move." Neji strained from the ground. The Naruto in the crater, disappeared. It was a shadow clone! Naruto walked up to Neji. "I should have guessed you'd use that Shadow Clone Jutsu. It's your specialty, after all. I was careless." He seemed disappointed in himself.

"For the record, I failed the graduation exam three times, 'cause there was this one jutsu, that was always on the exam, and it tripped me up, every time. It was the one jutsu that I just couldn't master." Everyone leaned forward to hear him. "My clones were pathetic. That's right, I flunked the Clone Jutsu every time.

"So don't come whining to me with this destiny stuff. And stop trying to tell me you can't change what you are!" Naruto ordered. A bird flew over them. "You can do it too, 'cause after all, unlike me, you're not a failure. **You're a genius**." Genma smirked at the display. Naruto standing over an immobilized Neji.

"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

**Done! Sorry it took me like 2 more days. This chapter is over 6K words though, so I hope it was worth the wait. **

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's strength in fighting is her strategy. She likes to think things over before actually starting a fight, unless the fight pops up out of nowhere.**

**Question: Which jounin is your favorite? **(Mine is obviously Gai, because he seems like such a fun dude tbh. Plus, the scenes between him and his dad are so awesome)


	18. ShikamaruVS Temari, A Caged Bird is Free

The uproar was amazing. Kumiko, along with Sakura, practically jumped out of their seats to cheer. Ino was grinning and clapping, while Gisei was doing the same.

"I knew he could do it!" Kumiko exclaimed, delighted at the turn of events.

"You did it!" Sakura screamed as she jumped up and down. Naruto stared up at everybody clapping, and gave them a thumbs up as he started running around.

Medic-nin began taking Neji away, and Kumiko watched them with sad eyes. Yes, she felt a bit bad that Neji had lost, but he kind of deserved it. He was being too cocky. It's a good thing Naruto knocked him down a couple pegs. Hopefully not too many though.

Ino glanced at Kumiko, who was watching Neji. "Go to him." She said gently, nudging the older girl. Kumiko, who was surprised by the sudden touching, jumped. She realized what Ino had said, and waved her arms around.

"No, I really shouldn't. The next match is going to begin soon anyways." She told her. Gisei, over hearing them, leaned closer to his daughter and her friend.

"You know, I saw Hiashi leave the stadium. It's possible he's going to talk to Neji about what happened. Let's just wait until he returns, and _then_ force Kumiko to go." He said with a soft smile. Kumiko glanced at her father, and gave a small smile back. Ino sighed before crossing her arms.

"Whatever." She said in an exaggerated voice. "I bet you're just afraid of them somehow ending up together." Kumiko rolled her eyes at her friend, but still kept the smile on her face. She knew Ino meant well.

Everybody around them began getting restless when they realized the next match hasn't started yet. Who was next again? Sasuke and Gaara? Sasuke had yet to show up though. They're probably going to disqualify him, which would really suck considering those two are the most anticipated fight out of this whole exam. Putting psycho with basically a genius huh.

"I wonder what's going on; the next match. Sasuke should be here by now." Ino said as she noticed too, how everyone was getting restless. A jounin appeared in front of Genma, and they conversed for a couple minutes, until the new one disappeared, and Genma turned to look at everyone.

"Listen everyone. One of the competitors of the next battle has not arrived yet. So, we're going to postpone this match briefly and jump ahead to the battle that would follow this one." Genma said.

Kumiko's ears perked up. "That's Shino and Kankuro." She commented.

"So cool," Ino said, her eyes sparkling. "That means Sasuke's still in this." Kumiko gave the young girl a dry look.

"On to the next battle." Genma said. "So, Shino and Kankuro, come down."

"Proctor, I withdraw." She heard Kankuro's voice coming from the waiting area. Sadly, since the waiting area was directly under them, they weren't able to see the competitors. Kumiko paused as she realized what Kankuro said. What? "I withdraw, so please, advance to the next match."

That seemed to cause an even bigger uproar.

"Shino's not going to like that." Kumiko muttered, annoyed that the puppet boy withdrew. She was kind of looking forward to their match. She had heard from Hinata how much Shino trained to perfect his bugs against the puppet boy.

Genma sighed. "Due to the withdrawal, Aburame Shino wins by default." People began booing. Kumiko frowned.

"Okay, then that means Shikamaru and…Temari are up." She spoke, annoyed that these fights weren't even happening. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind happened, and everyone could see Temari floating down to the arena on her huge fan. "What a show off." Genma and Temari said a couple words, until Genma called out to Shikamaru.

"Hey, you up there. Come down." Nothing happened. "Nara Shikamaru. Come on."

Kumiko smiled as she realized Shikamaru was trying to talk himself up to going down. He wasn't really the type of person to do things in front of many people. She could hear Naruto call out Shikamaru's name, and then, a loud thud was heard from the arena. "Holy crap did Naruto just-"

"He pushed Shikamaru off the balcony!" Ino gasped, her face horrified. Kumiko began laughing loudly as she heard Ino. Way to go Naruto. You managed to injure Shikamaru before the fight that's not even against you! Gisei could be heard trying to cover his chuckles with coughs. "Don't laugh!"

People began throwing things down into the arena. Some of it hit Shikamaru. Kumiko, angry now, stood up. "Hey!" She snapped. "Don't throw things at them just because they're not a match you care about!" Gisei, once again, yanked her into her seat.

"Stop shouting at them before they start throwing things at _us_." He told her, giving her a look. Shikamaru was still laying on the ground.

"Why isn't he doing anything yet" Sakura questioned, confused. Ino frowned and rolled her eyes.

"He's just being lazy. I don't even know why he bothered showing up if he was just going to act like that." She replied.

Temari, noticing that Shikamaru wouldn't move either, made a face. "Well, if you won't move, than I will." And with that, she ran towards the young boy.

Genma, noticing this, rolled his eyes. This girl sure was eager. "Hey, I didn't start the match yet." Temari ignored him, and jumped, her fan landing, and a big cloud of dust along with a loud noise happened.

Kumiko sat back in her chair. "Yup, he's good as done already." When the dust finally cleared, everyone was surprised to see that Shikamaru wasn't in the same spot anymore, and that the fan hit the ground.

"It doesn't make a difference to me anymore if I become a chunin or not. But I guess I shouldn't let myself get beaten by a _female_." Shikamaru stated with a smirk as he leaned up against the wall. "So, let's do it."

Kumiko's mouth opened a little. "Did he really just say that? Oh, he's _so_ getting an earful when this match is over!" Temari, angered, blew her fan towards Shikamaru. Amazingly, he was able to dodge it, leaving two kunai in the wall. He hid behind a tree.

"Go for it Shikamaru! Use your super awesome technique and take her down!" Ino screamed as she began doing a couple punches in the air. Kumiko sweat-dropped as she heard the girl. A small crunching was heard from beside her.

"Yo." It was Chōji, and he was munching on some chips. Ino and Kumiko glanced at him.

"I thought you were still in the hospital." Ino said, surprised. "Your stomach's okay now?"

"Mhm." He said, then looked around. "Do you guys see any open seats?" The two girls looked around. Kumiko sighed before getting out of her seat.

"You can have mine. I was going to go visit Neji soon anyways. Might as well just go now, I guess." She said as she gestured towards her seat. Chōji didn't even hesitate to sit his snack bag, and himself, down.

"Thank you!" He said brightly. Kumiko nodded, and turned to her dad.

"I'm going to visit Neji. I'll be back." She told him.

Gisei frowned a bit. "Just you? And him? Most likely alone in the medic room?" He paused. "Maybe I should go with you." Kumiko blushed lightly and waved her hands around.

"No, don't come. We need to make up and I can't do that if you're watching us like a hawk. It'll be weird." She spoke, then glanced at the arena. "I'll be back by the time Sasuke gets here…if he even does." Gisei just nodded slightly.

"Okay well, hurry back soon." He said. Kumiko nodded and quickly left.

It didn't take her very long to find the medic room. She paused, feeling nervous as she stood outside the door. Neji should be the only person in there, so why was she getting a sick feeling? Would he be angered with her, for in a way, betraying him? Sighing, she knocked on the door. No noise came out. Hesitantly, she opened the door. She wasn't very surprised to see Neji sitting on a bed, his face in his hands.

"Neji," She spoke softly, walking further into the room, closer to her friend. Gently sitting on the same bed as him, she poked his shoulder. "How are you doing?" He said nothing, didn't even move. Kumiko sighed. "I'm sorry if you feel like I betrayed you-" The long speech she had prepared, was cut off by Neji moving towards her, his arms wrapping around her body.

He had hugged her.

She didn't know what to do, so she cautiously wrapped her arms around him also. "Neji?" After a couple seconds, he quickly pulled away, his face stained red.

"Kumiko, I'm sorry." He said quietly, staring down at the ground. "I shouldn't have ignored you this last month." Said girl, bit her lip lightly. Was he really blaming himself, when it was really her?

"No," She said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "It was _me_ who was ignoring _you_. It's just, with Lee's injuries, and what you had done to Hinata, and the stress of me losing to Temari..it was just too much." Pausing, she took notice that there was a scroll beside Neji. Pointing at it, she questioned, "What's that?"

Neji, who had forgotten about the scroll when he made the decision to hug Kumiko, picked it up gently, and stared at it. It was closed, having just been sealed a little while ago, after he re-read it again. Slowly, he handed it towards Kumiko. "It was a letter from my father, Hizashi, addressed to me. Hiashi-sama gave it to me when he visited." She gingerly took it, hesitating on what to do. "You can read it if you'd like."

She pursed her lips, contemplating on if she should. On one hand, it would explain why Neji was acting like this, but on the other, it's kind of an invasion of privacy. Yet, he obviously trusted her enough to allow her to read it, so, might as well. Opening the scroll, her eyes scanned its content.

It was from Hizashi, Neji's father. He personally wrote, telling Neji that he didn't die, for the main branch of the family. He died, for his brother, and his brother's family. At the end, he made sure to tell Neji to decide his own fate.

A small tear fell from Kumiko's face as she finished reading it. Hiashi had waited too long to give this scroll to Neji, and because of it, Neji had grown to harbor hatred for the main branch, when all along, he shouldn't have.

Neji took the scroll from Kumiko, not wanting her to get it soaked. "My father was an honorable man." He stated, staring at the scroll. "When Hiashi-sama gave me this scroll, he bowed to me. Me. A branch family member." Kumiko swiped at her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears.

"Stop calling yourself a branch family member, Neji." She spoke. "You're a Hyuuga, and a gifted one at that. Just because you weren't born in the main one, doesn't mean you're of any lesser a Hyuuga." It went silent as the two stared at each other.

"Thank you." Neji finally said, giving her a small smile. She smiled back. For once, it felt like she had nothing to worry about. "You should probably get going. The matches aren't over yet." Kumiko stood up, making a slight face.

"You're not coming? Surely your injuries weren't _that_ bad." She commented, confused. Neji frowned, glancing outside one of the windows. A bird was perched on a nearby tree. Just sitting there, seeming content with whatever was going on in the world. Not a care in the world. Neji turned to face his teammate.

"I'm not ready to go out yet. I still need to rest." He answered. Kumiko raised an eyebrow, but complied anyways.

"Okay, I'll come visit you again after all the matches are done with." She told him. Neji nodded, and Kumiko left the room.

As she began walking back to the watching area, she blushed bright red, remembering the hug Neji gave her. It was the first time they've ever really been in contact like that. Ever since she'd known him, Neji has _not_ been a physical person. He didn't enjoy contact with people, unless it was during a mission, where they fought.

Maybe now that Neji learned the truth about his father's death, he'll be nicer to the main branch. Probably nicer in general. Besides, he most likely won't be a cocky person, since Naruto, a person who most see as a loser, beat Neji, a genius. Can't come back from that, can ya?

Soon after, she returned to the arena, and was surprised to see the fight between Shikamaru and Temari, was still going on. Jeez Shikamaru, how much did you stall? It seemed like their match was coming to an end though. Shikamaru had Temari trapped in his Shadow Possession Jutsu, and was trying to make her give up. Temari seemed to be struggling to break free of the possession.

Kumiko walked back over to where everyone had been sitting. There weren't any seats open, so she took to sitting on the steps next to Chōji. Her father was willing to give his seat up for her, but she declined, saying that he wasn't allowed to strain himself much, due to his permanent injury to his leg.

Annoyed though, Kumiko had to gather most of the trash Chōji left on the ground around him, and ball it together. She told him to quit eating so much because it was making the area around them dirty, but Chōji ignored her, continuing to eat. It appeared he was too much into the match to pay attention to her. Ino was too into the match too, but her father greeted her. Sakura seemed too depressed to even say anything.

"Okay that's it. I give up." Shikamaru said, his hand still in the air.

The entire arena went silent, until…

"He what?!" Kumiko screamed, absolutely angry. Sure, she may have just gotten here, and not known what was going on, but it was obvious that Shikamaru was going to win!

"See, I told you he'd give up." Chōji said as he dropped another bag of chips on the ground. Kumiko, already annoyed, picked the bag up and punched Chōji in the leg. "Ow! Kumiko!" She glared.

"I gave you my seat, so be more clean!" She snapped. Chōji burped, and rolled his eyes, before turning back to the arena.

"Looks like I know Shikamaru a little bit better than you do, huh?" Chōji rhetorically asked Ino. Well no shit. Not like he hasn't been your best friend for only the last 7 years.

Temari asked Shikamaru what he said. "I used up all my chakra on that Shadow Possession Jutsu. I'm good for about another 10 seconds, that's it. Bummer. And here I'd already planned out the next 200 moves ahead, but my chakra's running low." Shikamaru explained, setting his arm down, releasing the jutsu. "Anyway, if I was to win this thing, it would just mean more work."

"What the hell does he mean, '200 moves ahead'?" Kumiko questioned. "I didn't even know he could think one move ahead."

Chōji chomped on another chip. "Shikamaru's a genius. Has an IQ of over 200 I think." He answered her. Her eyes widened, mouth dropped.

"What?!" She exclaimed. "Then why the hell does he act so…like that?!" Chōji shrugged.

Genma smirked as he turned. "The winner is; Temari."

The stadium remained silent as Shikamaru let Temari go from his shadow possession. Temari still remained confused while Shikamaru grabbed his arm with a sigh. "Man I'm beat." Kumiko rolled her eyes. Ino and her were feeling the same annoyance apparently, seeing as how Ino groaned.

"What a waste!" She snapped. Then she turned and grabbed Chōji and started shaking him. "Why?! What was he thinking?! Doesn't he want to be a Chunin?!" Kumiko was suddenly very grateful that she wasn't sitting next to her anymore.

"What can I say? It's Shikamaru." Was all Chōji could say, giving a little chuckle. Kumiko sighed, getting ready to say something, when Naruto's voice cut her off, along with him running onto the field.

"Hey! I wanna talk to you, you idiot!" Naruto said as he pointed at Shikamaru, who began stretching. No wonder Naruto and her got along well. Naruto says that which she wants when she can't.

The two began sharing a few words, when suddenly, Naruto seemed to remember that a match between Sasuke and Gaara was supposed to happen. All of a sudden, the whole stadium began talking about it. Kumiko's stomach felt very sick all of a sudden, and she was really hoping Sasuke wouldn't show up.

Minutes kept passing. And passing. And passing. And passing. Everyone in the stadium were beginning to get annoyed with no Sasuke. Just how long were they going to wait? It's almost been 10 minutes.

_Please don't come Sasuke, please don't come_, Kumiko chanted in her head. Seeing the way that Gaara had almost murdered Lee a month ago, had made her never want to see another match between Gaara and anyone else. The kid is psycho! Although, it was mainly his father's fault…

"Alright, the time limit has expired," Genma began. So Kumiko was right. 10 minutes was the waiting limit. "I am officially calling this match-"

Genma didn't get to finish, when suddenly, a huge gust of wind appeared. Through it, were standing none other than Sasuke and Kakashi. Sasuke seemed neutral, while Kakashi appeared rather happy.

"Sorry we're late. There was a bit of traffic." Kakashi said. Kumiko shot daggers down at the older man.

"Always has something funny to say." She mumbled, then sighed.

Well Sasuke, it was nice knowing you.

* * *

**Woo! Okay so...took a lot longer than I had anticipated. I actually had the whole Temari VS. Shikamaru fight done, but it was too short, so I added some more into it. So sorry it took forever. I will try and update ASAP.**

**Fun Fact**: **Kumiko is going to play an important part in the upcoming canon events.**

**Question**: **Which Next Generation kid is your favorite? **(Mine is Metal, just because he looks like Lee so much, and already he's being underrated since he wasn't in Gaiden at all, and in Boruto the movie, he didn't even have a single line. Inojin and Shikadai are also little cutie pie's.)


	19. Sasuke VS Gaara, The Sand Attack!

The stadium got silent as they all realized what had happened. Genma was staring down at Sasuke, a little smirk on his face. "And you are?" He asked. Sasuke turned to look at him.

"I'm Uchiha…Sasuke." He spoke clearly.

"Oh Sasuke!" Sakura sighed, with relief.

"So he made it in time!" Kumiko felt her heart jump when she heard that voice pop in from behind her. Her eyes went wide and her head jerked.

"Lee!" She said, a wide grin on her face as she realized her friend was here, and out of the hospital, along with their sensei. Ino and Sakura seemed just as pleased as they greeted him with their own grins. "I'm so happy you're here!" Kumiko jumped up to hug him. When she wrapped her arms around him, he gave a little noise of pain. Immediately, she recoiled. "I'm so sorry, I just got excited."

Lee gave her a smile, and a thumbs up with his free arm. "It is no big deal. It is said hugs are supposed to have healing power anyways." Kumiko grinned again, and this time, a couple tears appeared in her eyes. Nice to see Lee was back to normal. Mentally at least.

"Kumiko, sit back down so we can watch the match." Gisei told her. She frowned, but sat back down on the steps anyways, leaning her back against her sensei's legs, turning her attention back to the ground.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a couple words. Kakashi could be seen rubbing the back of his neck. "So, how late are we? It's not like Sasuke's…disqualified or anything, right?" Everyone turned to look at Genma, who got an amused look on his face.

"Like master; like pupil. I never doubt your lousy sense of time. You know you were so late, we extended the deadline, twice, for you. It's lucky for you we did, because you _just_ made it, so he's not disqualified." He spoke. Kakashi smiled…maybe.

"Oh, that's a relief." Kakashi chuckled. "You had me worried there for a minute. So we're okay." Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a sentence or two, when Naruto called his name out.

"Don't lose, cause I wanna fight you myself." He spoke. Sasuke stared at him.

"Got it." Was all he said. Suddenly, everyone in the stadium began cheering.

"Yeah! Go Sasuke!" Ino basically screamed. When she sat back down, she turned to Sakura. "Sakura, what's it like to be on such an amazing team?" Sakura, confused, turned to Ino.

"What do you mean?" She questioned. Ino seemed blissfully unaware of anyone listening.

"You know, Naruto surprises everyone by beating Hyuuga Neji, oh and then you've got Sasuke who is like a Superstar- everyone wants to see his match-, you've got like an allstar team!" She rambled.

Kumiko noticed Lee's head jerk to look at them. She stared at him with sad eyes, watching his body shake. He must have been thinking of how powerless he was against Gaara, and how he always lost against Neji in everything. She noticed his hand holding the crutch began bleeding in the knuckle area. He's reopening his wounds!

"Lee-," She started, but Gai cut her off.

"Kumiko." He said, a hard look on her face. Said girl, glanced up at her sensei, a downtrodden look on her face. Closing her mouth, she looked away. They both knew there was nothing they could do to help Lee. And it was the biggest heartache either could suffer from.

"Alright Gaara, come down here." Genma spoke.

"Come on Naruto, they don't need us now." Shikamaru said, walking away from said boy. Seeing Naruto hesitate, he continued. "Let's go. This time I'm taking the stairs if you don't mind." Kumiko gave a small smile at the jeer Shikamaru sent, a reminder that Naruto had pushed him off the steps.

"Come on, are you still upset I gave you a little push? You should be grateful!" Naruto said, running after his friend.

It took Gaara a bit of time to get down. Kumiko raised an eyebrow, wondering what had took him so long. Soon though, it was Gaara and Sasuke, standing across from each other, staring each other down. Kumiko felt shivers run down her back. She was getting such a bad feeling from this.

"Alright," Genma began. "The rules for this match are the same as in the preliminaries. The match continues until one of you dies, or is defeated. However, I can stop the match, but that's solely my decision." Kumiko's heart skipped a beat. Gaara is crazy. Too crazy. Sasuke is strong. Too strong. This is most likely going to be a fight to the death.

_Click, clack_.

Kumiko turned, hearing steps behind her. She turned to look, along with her sensei. Kakashi was standing there.

"Hello Gai," He greeted. "How are you feeling Lee? Are you alright?" Kumiko smiled lightly, seeing Kakashi checking on her teammates well-being. If she didn't already have Gai as her sensei, she definitely would have wanted Kakashi.

"Kakashi." Gai greeted back, a small smirk on his face.

Sakura immediately turned. "Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi turned to look at his pupil, and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Oh right, sorry about that." He chuckled nervously. "You must have been worried. Sorry for not keeping in touch." Ino and Kumiko made faces, knowing that Sakura was quite upset about what had happened. Expecting her to blow, both girls were surprised when Sakura just turned back to face the arena.

"I don't mind," She spoke softly. "That's okay." Both girls gave her an incredulous look. But then Kumiko frowned. She knew Sakura was quite worried about Sasuke. "Listen sensei, you know that there was a mark on Sasuke's neck right? Well…is it…"

She couldn't even finish her question. Kumiko knew exactly what she wanted to ask. Is it going to affect Sasuke anymore? Kakashi also seemed to understand.

"It isn't anything to worry about right now." He stated. Sakura seemed pleased with the answer as she smiled. "So, that's that." Sakura smiled and nodded.

Kumiko sighed. Sasuke and Gaara were still staring each other down. Suddenly, Kakashi started counting, and continued until he got to eight.

"Eight of them. Eight members of the ANBU Black Ops in an arena this size? That's nowhere near enough. What is Hokage-sama thinking?" He questioned.

Gisei turned finally to look at them. "Well, not knowing how the enemy's going to act, the ANBU have probably been dispersed to the key locations around the village." He told him.

"It's starting." Gai stated before Kakashi could ask anything. Everyone turned to look back at the arena floor. "We can't afford to let our guard down, but for now at least, we need to watch this match. Kakashi, I'm going to be carefully watching your pupil to see if your training was any good. After all, I still am your rival." He then smirked, his teeth doing a little sparkle.

Kakashi turned to look at Gai. "Hm? Did you say something?" Immediately, Gai deadpanned.

"Oh! You make me so mad Kakashi! Why do you always have to act so cool?!" He shouted, holding his hands to his head. Kumiko and Ino shared laughs at the sensei. What a dork.

Genma began speaking, which caught everyone's attention. "Both of you, in the middle." They both slowly moved closer. Sasuke kept a stony look, while Gaara smirked. "Begin!"

Immediately, Sasuke moved back, and Gaara let loose some of his sand from his gourd. But then, he grabbed his face, and started grunting. He seemed like he was in pain. Worry swept over Kumiko's face. What was wrong with him?

"Please, I beg you, don't get so mad at me…mother." Gaara spoke. Kumiko's eyes widened. His mother? Didn't he say that she was dead though? "Earlier I…oh no, I made you taste such awful blood. I'm so sorry, but this time, I'm sure that it'll taste, so very good."

Kumiko felt bile rise up in her throat. Blood? Is that what took him so long to come down? Had he killed someone in the meantime?! Where were Shikamaru and Naruto?! They had to have passed him in order to get back to the waiting area! And who was he calling his mother? The sand?

Then his sand dropped, and he seemed to return to…what she likes to call, Gaara normal. A few seconds passed, and the sand lifted again, but Gaara still seemed in control.

"Here goes." Sasuke started, and threw the first move by grabbing shuriken out of his pocket, and threw them. Gaara's sand created another of him, and grabbed the shuriken. Then Sasuke ran for him, and tried hitting him. Gaara's sand blocked his punch, and suddenly, Sasuke disappeared. Then, reappeared behind Gaara.

"He's faster now!" Kumiko gasped, his speed, reminding her of Lee's normal one. Then, Sasuke punched Gaara in the face, his body movement exactly like Lee's. Gaara was flung a couple feet away, his face cracking a tiny bit. His sand armour seemed to be fading a little.

To make a long story short, Sasuke was quite fast, so fast, that Gaara couldn't comprehend what was happening. The two were going at it for a while until finally, Gaara created a little sand dome around himself. Sasuke punched it, and it seemed he'd put his whole body into it, and began to bleed a little from it.

"The sand…it's covered his entire body." Lee mumbled. Kumiko frowned.

"Why though? What purpose is it to serve? So he can regain chakra?" She pondered.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto could be heard shouting from behind them. Immediately, Kumiko felt her heart skip a beat at his voice. So he is okay! They all turned to look. Naruto was barely standing, heavily out of breath. Shikamaru was crouching right next to him, in the same state.

"W-what is it Naruto?" Kakashi questioned, seeming quite surprised that one of his pupils appeared.

"Sensei please, you have to stop this match right away!" Naruto demanded.

"What?"

"The guy Sasuke is fighting is completely different from the rest of us! He's about as far from normal as you can get!" Naruto answered. Kumiko sweat-dropped. No shit, Naruto.

"Naruto, slow down. "Ino reprimanded. "What are you trying to say?"

"He thinks his point in life is to kill people. Don't you see? If this continues, Sasuke will die!" Naruto snapped. Kumiko looked away.

"Genma won't let that happen." Gisei answered, trying to calm the young boy down.

"You've gotta believe me!" Naruto said angrily. Everyone paused, and looked back towards the ground. It appears an eyeball was now floating above the dome.

Finally, Kakashi spoke up. "Relax. No need to get so worked up. You know, Sasuke and I weren't just goofing around. There's a reason we were so late getting here." Kumiko pursed her lips. From what she's heard, Kakashi is usually late for any, and everything. So, it's a little hard to believe he actually had a reason for being so late.

Sasuke took off towards the dome Gaara was in. He tried hitting it, throwing things, everything, but nothing seemed to be working. The dome tried stabbing at Sasuke.

"If there's a reason you guys were so late, what were you doing?" Kumiko asked Kakashi, genuinely curious.

Kakashi made a 'hm' sound. "It's kind of a long story."

"Oh come on! Will you please do something? This is no time for talking!" Naruto burst out yelling. Kakashi seemed annoyed instantly.

"You're right, so shut up and watch." He ordered. Everyone seemed shocked at what the sensei said to one of his students. Kumiko glared. Gai-sensei would never talk like that to one of his students. What made Kakashi think he was so special to treat his student so low? "Keep your eye on Sasuke. He's about to surprise you."

Suddenly, a bunch of electricity began charging around Sasuke's fist.

Gai, seemed to recognize what he was doing. "But…it can't be…"

Kakashi overhearing him, decided to tell. "If you wondered why I always insisted on training Sasuke myself, now you know. It's because he's like me."

Kumiko pursed her lips. No wonder Kakashi took a liking to Sasuke. It's the same as how Gai-sensei had taken a liking to Lee.

Sasuke ran towards the dome with the electricity all over his hands.

"That bizarre noise, what technique is it?" Sakura wondered.

"It's a jab," Gai answered. "But this jab, is a jab like no other. It's the only weapon in Kakashi's arsenal that he didn't copy from someone else. It's the weapon of choice for assassination. The secret of the jab is in the speed of which it is delivered, and the ninja's ability to focus their chakra in the point of attack." He continued on, and Kumiko decided to tune them out, deciding it wasn't of interest anymore.

Sasuke ran towards the dome, and threw a punch. Amazingly, it was able to penetrate it. Everyone was in awe. Suddenly, screaming could be heard from the dome.

"Blood!" Gaara's voice rang out, and it seemed like he was in pain. "It's my blood!" Kumiko's eyes widened at the terrible screeching. Never before had she heard someone scream in that much agony.

Immediately, Sasuke tried bringing his arm back out, but he couldn't. Until finally, what seemed like an arm pushed him out, then it slowly retreated back into the dome. The arena was silent. Then, the dome cracked, breaking away, revealing Gaara, holding his hand up to his bloody shoulder.

For some reason, Kumiko began feeling tired. Too tired. Her eyes were getting droopy.

"Kakashi, do you feel it?" She could hear her sensei ask. Kakashi replied, saying that it was a genjutsu. Then, they both did a hand sign. "Release!" Kumiko immediately reacted.

"Release!" She said, and began feeling wide awake. She heard her father and Sakura follow soon after. Kumiko felt someone land on her back. "Lee!" She gasped out the boy's name, carefully turning to hold him in her arms. He had fallen asleep, as had Choji, Ino, Shikamaru, and Naruto. She gently moved Lee so he was leaning against Choji's seat.

"Kumiko, are you okay?" Her dad asked, standing up quickly. Kumiko stood also, and nodded.

"Yeah, but-"

She didn't get the chance to finish what she was about to say, when a small explosion went off at the Kage box. "What's going on?" Sakura quietly mumbled.

"Are…are we under attack?" Kumiko questioned her father, her eyes wide. Who would attack them? Weren't they at peace with everyone? Her father just shook his head, just as confused.

"Hokage-sama!" Gai snapped. Suddenly, ANBU ran off towards the Hokage. It seemed like a clash was going on, and then, the Kazekage jumped into the air, holding the Hokage with a kunai to his neck.

"It's the Sand! They're turning on us!" Kumiko gasped. 4 ninja appeared, surrounding them, and they created a barrier, so the only people inside, were the kages.

"It's a barrier ninjutsu." Gai stated.

"They outwitted the ANBU Black Ops, and the ANBU are supposed to be the best…" Kakashi said.

"We have to do something." Gisei spoke up, and the three headed down the steps, but got stopped by a figure. "What are you doing? Hokage-sama is in danger!"

Then, more appeared, having been hiding as normal visitors.

"What a nuisance." Kakashi muttered.

"An enemy masqueraded as ANBU Black Ops," Gai started. "So, he was using genjutsu."

"Yes, there's no mistake." Gisei answered.

"Stop it Gaara!" Temari's voice rang out, gathering Kumiko's attention. She had temporarily forgotten what was going on down in the arena. Temari and Kankuro had both made their way down there, and were trying to calm down Gaara. Kankuro tried blocking Gaara from moving towards Sasuke, but he just moved him.

Their sensei also went down to join. Genma moved in front of Sasuke to protect him. Kumiko couldn't hear anything that was going on down there, but then she saw Kankuro pick up Gaara. Then, their sensei shouted "Go!", and Kankuro and Temari took off, disappearing behind the giant arena wall.

Kumiko gasped, not expecting it. Genma and Sasuke shared some words, until Sasuke then turned, and took off running. The sensei of Gaara's team, threw kunai at him, but Genma was able to stop them with his own kunai.

"Sasuke's going after Gaara and the others!" Kumiko exclaimed, and then, she paused, her eyes hardening. Sasuke was going to go alone? No way. "I'm going too."

"Kumiko, no," Her father said, grabbing her shoulder. "I don't want you anywhere near Gaara!" Kumiko just looked at him.

"I have to though! Sasuke can get really hurt going alone, fighting those three!" She argued. Her father's eyes hardened, anger showing.

"I don't care about Sasuke. You're my only focus, and right now, I say you won't go." He said sternly. "I can't let you get hurt again." She paused, seeing the look on his face. His eyes showed anger, but his body language, showed that he was scared of something.

Finally, she decided on what to do. Jerking her shoulder from her father's grasp, she took off. "I'll be fine! Just take care of Lee, and Gai-sensei!"

"Kumiko stop!" Gisei shouted, trying to follow after her, but one of the sand ninja had gotten in his way. No, wait, this one wasn't a sand, it was a sound! _Both_ the sand and sound had betrayed them! "Get out of my way!" He punched the ninja, but they were quick to recover, grabbing his fist, and swinging back.

Kumiko didn't look back, feeling deeply guilty at leaving her father like that. She knew that with his leg disability, he wouldn't have been able to catch her anyways. Quickly, she ran around the top of the arena's wall, trying to get over to where everyone had jumped over.

She glanced back for a second, seeing Kakashi and Gai fighting along with her father. Sakura was trying to wake Shikamaru and Naruto up. She turned back, knowing they'll be okay. And with that, she jumped over the wall, and began running in the direction she _hoped_ everyone ran.

It shouldn't be that hard to track them, there were little bits of sand leading straight, indicating that that was where they had gone. She really hopes to catch Sasuke before he engages in battle with them. It would be quite difficult alone.

Checking her body, she made sure she had all her equipment with her. Thankfully, she had her bag with her doll, and some weapons. Shouldn't be too hard to help Sasuke.

Catching up was actually rather easy for her. Kankuro carrying Gaara was slowing them down, and Sasuke was a quick runner. When she had caught up, Sasuke was about to engage Temari into a fight, but they all turned to look at Kumiko.

"Oh jeez. Her too?" Temari said, annoyance showing on her face. Kumiko glared, and then smirked. "What are you smirking for?"

"Nothing really, I'm just, quite interested to see how this will all play out." She answered. Temari glared back, and then jumped in the air.

"Go Kankuro, get Gaara away from here. I'll try and hold them both back!" She said, and threw her kunai at both Sasuke and Kumiko, who were easily able to dodge it. Kankuro seemed annoyed.

"Don't be a fool Temari, you can't hold them both back." He told her.

"Don't argue!" Temari snapped. "Our mission is to make sure that Gaara is safe. He's our first and only priority. Don't worry about me. This is what I've been waiting for. Get going Kankuro!" Without another word, Kankuro took off.

"No you don't!" Sasuke snapped, and tried following, but Temari waved her fan up, sending a huge gust of wind, blowing him backwards.

"Take this!" She shouted. When it subsided, Sasuke was still standing, Kumiko nowhere in sight. "Where'd she-"

"Kumiko kick!" A leg came flying towards Temari, kicking her right in the side, sending her sideways.

"But, how did you…" Temari gasped, caught off guard by the sudden attack. Kumiko, standing on the same branch as Temari, slowly walked up to her, and grabbed her by the hair.

A smirk played on her lips. "Your shouting at Kankuro was enough of a distraction for me to move around you, and when you blew Sasuke back with your fan, I didn't get hit with it since I was standing slightly behind you, and your fan only seems to attack forward." She then let go, and Temari quickly stood back up, jumping a few branches away.

"What game are you playing?" She questioned. Kumiko just looked at her, and frowned.

Without taking her eyes off Temari, she spoke. "Go after Kankuro, Sasuke. I'll take care of Temari." Her eyes darkened. "I need to repay her for the number she did on me during the qualifiers." Temari tensed, while Sasuke nodded slowly.

"Alright." And with that, he took off, trusting that Kumiko could handle her herself. When he was out of sight, Kumiko smiled.

"Now, where were we?"

* * *

**Done! So, this one didn't really have a lot of action in it. Tbh, I'm terrible at writing action scenes. I'm more of a dialogue kind of person. **

**Fun Fact: I'm very excited to unleash a bunch of plot twist that have to do with Kumiko.**

**Question: No question this time.**


	20. Kumiko VS Temari, Round Two!

It was eerily silent as the two girls stared each other down. The only thing on Temari's mind, was making sure that Gaara was safe. But the only thing on Kumiko's was revenge. So much hatred had built up in her over the last month, and she just _knew_, that Temari was going to get the brunt of it.

Temari was the first the break the silence. "So, are you just going to stand there gawking all day, or are we going to fight?" She asked, opening her fan up.

Kumiko smirked, excitement building up inside her. She was finally going to be able to prove to everyone that she's useful. She wasn't just here to keep everyone entertainment, like Kiba, nor make everyone happy, like Hinata. She was here to prove that she was useful to Konoha, and that she belonged here. _Deserves,_ to b`e on such a strong team with Neji and Lee.

"Depends," Kumiko spoke softly, and grasped her bag. "Do you think you can take me down again?" And with that, their match had begun. Kumiko, taking the initiative, had thrown shuriken at Temari. The older girl, obviously used to Kumiko's weapons by now, dodged them with a simple turn.

She smirked, thinking about how this match was going to go in her favor. "I _know_ I can. It was quite easy for me to be able to last time. What makes you think I won't again?" Kumiko scowled, thinking back to their first match. Temari had humiliated her, taking her down so easily. But the thing about that, is Kumiko had something Temari doesn't know about.

Her doll.

If all goes correctly, and she doesn't screw it up, her new jutsu should be able to easily defeat Temari! Now, she just has to time it correctly, in order to throw her off. Suddenly, Kumiko was hit with a huge gust of wind, sending her flying backwards, into a tree.

She cried out, feeling pain from her back hitting it. She glared up at Temari, who happened to be smirking, half hiding behind her fan, but not hiding on purpose. One of the dots on Temari's fan was showing.

Quickly shaking it off, Kumiko stood back up, and took off, jumping tree to tree around Temari, sometimes jumping one way, and then another, hoping to confuse the older girl.

Temari seemed to be getting sick of it. "If you're just going to waste my time with your childish games, I'm leaving. I have to go after them." Her eyes never moved away from Kumiko, who paused in her jumping, standing on a branch about 6 meters away from Temari.

"Well that's unfortunate," She sighed. "I'm honestly still trying to plan out my attacks. I'm also trying to think of your reactions. For now, you seem about as useless as I am. All you seem to be able to do, is make simple wind with your fan."

Temari smirked. "Simple wind, huh? You don't know much about Suna. We take our jutsu's quite seriously. Seriously enough, that we're trained to kill with them before the age of 10." She eyed Kumiko. "As far as I can tell, you don't even have anything except weak taijutsu and those weapons that are completely useless against my wind chakra. This battle is mine for the win."

Kumiko looked away, and pursed her lips. No wonder Temari was a cocky brat. She seemed to easily prey on those weaker than her. Just like Gaara. No wonder they were siblings. Was Kankuro just as bad? She glanced back at Temari, and smiled, cocking her head a little.

"Oh darling, you haven't seen anything just yet."

And with that, Kumiko took off in a run towards Temari, and began kicking and punching at her. Unfortunately, Temari was able to block them all, except one. Kumiko was quick enough to land a swift kick to Temari's shoulder, sending the girl flying off the branch, and onto the hard ground. She quickly recovered, and ran up the tree, her fan held, as if she was going to hit Kumiko with it.

But Kumiko could tell what Temari was going to do, and moved chakra into her feet, and moved upside down from the branch, dodging her. Temari had a little too much force in the throw of her elbow, and went flying across a couple of the trees. Sadly, she was able to regain her balance, and latched onto a branch, and flung herself back up.

Kumiko stared at her, already tired with what seemed like, foolish playing around. "Please, leave my village. You guys had no right to do this. You realize you're asking for war, behaving this way?" Temari glared. "Why?"

Temari didn't say a word at first, then decided to stop keeping silent. "It's not like it's something I wanted. None of us did. One day, our father, the Kazekage, heard about the Chunin Exams being held here, and thought that it'd be a great way for us to gather more strength. Suna…it's not the best village around really."

Kumiko shook her head. "I don't understand how your Kage thinks, but I do know, it's not the correct way. It's even worse, when he drags his own children into it." She looked away. "I know what he did to Gaara. I know he tries killing him whenever he feels like it."

Temari tensed. "So? He had to do what he had to do to protect Suna. Gaara has issues, and he can't be controlled." She looked saddened by her words.

Kumiko sighed, and got in a fighting stance. "I won't allow you guys to do this to my village. I will stop you. Even if it kills me." Temari stared, and too, got in a stance, putting her fan on her back.

"Well, those just may be your last words, _Kumiko_." She said, Kumiko's name rolling off as if it burned her to say it. And with that, the two took off, trying to attack each other with physical moves. Eventually, Temari was able to land a swift kick to Kumiko's stomach, sending her flying against a tree.

Temari smirked, and walked up to her, slowly. Bloodlust on her face and all in her aura. "So, you ready to admit defeat? I honestly have no intention of killing you, but I will do to you what Gaara did to your teammate, if needed." Kumiko was holding her stomach with one of her hands, trying to push away the pain, her other arm behind her. She must have kicked an important organ for it to hurt this much.

"I'll never give up. Not when my friends are counting on me." She mumbled, then smirked. "But I doubt you'd know anything about that. Do you even have any friends? Or are you just that intimidating that all the other kids can't stand to be around you?" Temari now frowned and brought her fan out from behind her.

"Who needs friends?" She questioned. "All they do is keep you back." And with that, Temari lifted her fan, ready to give the final blow. But, it never came. Kumiko looked up, seeing Temari trapped in her spot, unable to move. "What? Why…can't I move?"

Then, a huge smirk crossed Kumiko's face. She let out a huge laugh.

"Because. I stopped you thanks to this." With that, she brought her other arm out from behind her, showing Temari what was in her hands.

"A doll?!" Temari cried out in shock, surprised that a doll was somehow able to stop her. "How…?" Then, she noticed a strand of blonde hair attached to the dolls head. "No way. I thought you were only able to do taijutsu and use weapons?"

"Yes way." Kumiko grinned. "This is my Voodoo Possession Jutsu. Originally, in our first fight, I did only use taijutsu and weapons. But that's because my Voodoo Possession was in its first stage. This is the second. In the first stage, you would have had to give me my doll, which would have been an unguarded kind of way to get possession over your body.

"But I could tell you weren't that dense. So, instead, I decided to hide it in my bag. Making sure that no one besides my teammates knew about the jutsu. I was hoping to rely on my weapons and taijutsu to win. But, in the end, I still failed. I was okay with it though. Honestly, I didn't want to be a Chunin just yet. I still figured I had much to learn.

"And boy I sure did. During the one month you all had to train, I did training of my own, with my father and Ino. As you know, Ino cut her hair during her match with Sakura. So, she had to get it evened of course, which left a lot of extra hair lying around. My father decided that was the best time to show me the next step in my jutsu, thanks to Ino agreeing to be my test subject."

Kumiko was surprised Temari hadn't ever cut her off yet. Maybe she was just as into the story as Kumiko was living it.

"I'm now able to use a person's different types of DNA to take control of their body. Originally, it was just their skin cells that were used, from touching the doll. But now, I can use their hair, blood, skin cells still, saliva, whatever it is I can get from them." Temari's eyes widened as she remembered Kumiko grabbed her hair earlier, before they began. "And then, they'll be in my possession for however long my chakra can keep up."

Speaking of chakra keeping up, she could feel hers slowly depleting, from wasting her time explaining to Temari. She'll have to finish it soon.

"So, now, I must get to finishing this fight. Sasuke has probably caught up to Kankuro by now." And with that, Kumiko grabbed her dolls head, and left arm, and made the two connect hard. The result; Temari punching herself in the face. She had done it repeatedly, making Temari land multiple blows to herself. This was taking the, "Why are you hitting yourself?" game to a whole other level.

Eventually, Kumiko tired, running low on chakra, and decided to stop. She figured Temari had suffered enough, whether it be humiliation, or physical. She let the doll go, letting it fall to the ground. Temari had done the same. Then, Kumiko picked it back up, and Temari flinched, thinking it was going to begin again.

"No need to worry," Kumiko smiled. "It's only a one time use DNA thing. Fresh. After I use it, and drop my doll, it becomes useless." Temari was breathing heavily, holding her face. There were so many marks. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go capture Gaara." Before leaving, she turned towards Temari, and smirked. "I do believe this makes us even."

And then, she took off, stuffing the doll in her bag.

By now, Sasuke must have caught up to Kankuro and Gaara. Was anyone else awake and sending reinforcements yet? By the time Kumiko had caught up, Kankuro looked ready to attack Sasuke, trying to hide an unconscious Gaara behind him.

"I don't think so." Kumiko said, jumping up besides Sasuke. Both boys seemed rather surprised to see her there.

"You defeated Temari?" Kankuro questioned, absolutely amazed.

"Hn, guess you're not as weak as I originally thought you were." Sasuke said, a slight smirk on his face. Kumiko grinned back.

"Oh you should have seen it. I beat her to a pulp." Then, her smile vanished. "But, she's resilient. She'll probably be here in the next minute or so. We have to hurry and make do."

Sasuke nodded, and he began doing hand signs. "Fire Style; Fire Ball Jutsu!" He blew fire towards Kankuro, but Kankuro picked Gaara up, and dodged.

"Kankuro!" Temari cried out, jumping next to her brothers. Kumiko sweat-dropped, amazed at how quickly Temari actually was able to get there.

"I thought you beat her to a pulp?" Sasuke questioned. Then, he noticed all the damage Temari had taken. "Ah."

"She's tough. Sue me."

"Give Gaara to me Kankuro. I'm not well enough for another fight." Temari ordered her brother. Kankuro nodded, and handed Gaara over to her.

"I'll stall them as long as I can." He told her, and with a nod, Temari took off.

"Oh no you don't." Sasuke muttered, and then took off after them, but Kankuro blocked his way with some kunai. Sasuke easily blocked them with his own. Then, Kumiko threw some shuriken, and that distracted Kankuro enough to turn away from Sasuke.

"Go on Sasuke! I'll take care of him too!" Kumiko shouted, and Sasuke nodded with a turn, and ran off after Temari and Gaara. Clearly, he was a lot more at ease at leaving an opponent with her. Kankuro and Kumiko stared at each other.

"I see you were able to take Temari down for a bit." Kankuro began. "But I won't get taken down as easily."

"'It's too bad we can't be friends'. Is this what you meant? This whole time, you guys were planning on overthrowing the village?!" Kumiko cried out, anger flaring in her heart. Kankuro seemed to be the nicest of the sand siblings, and she truly felt he could have been a good friend. Had he not been a part of their plan.

Kankuro seemed angered at Kumiko repeating his words. "I won't be easily defeated." He said, and prepared to attack. Kumiko getting in the same stance. They just stared at each other.

Kumiko felt a little shock on her neck. Immediately, her hand moved to there, and she felt a bug. She was getting ready to smack it, when someone grabbed her hand.

"Don't kill it."

Her eyes widened at the voice she recognized. He followed them this whole way?

"S-Shino?!" She asked, turning to look at her friend. There he was, standing beside her, his eyes trained on Kankuro. "What are you doing here?"

Shino didn't look at her, but had let her hand go. "I was following from a distance. I figured something was wrong when Kankuro had forfeited our match out of the blue. Go on ahead and help Sasuke with the others."

Kumiko seemed hesitant. "Will you be okay?" Shino didn't make a sound. Kumiko frowned. "Okay, I'll trust you, Shino. Thank you."

And with that, she quickly ran past Kankuro, after Sasuke and the others.

It took her quite a few minutes to catch up. Once she did, she really wished she hadn't. The scene was that of a horror movie.

Sasuke and Gaaara had just butted heads, and were fighting. Sasuke using his Chidori, and Gaara…he looked like half of a demon. Seriously. Half of his body was transformed with mainly sand, and his right eye looked like that of a yellow eyed creature. It was disturbing to look at.

Both boys were standing on branches, having just attacked. Slowly, Gaara's arm seemed to fall apart. Or, at least the sand part of it, revealing his normal arm. Sasuke though, unfortunately, the markings had reappeared, and his Sharingan was activated. Gaara cried out in pain, as the arm, and sand regrew over his body.

Sasuke let out a cry of pain, and collapsed. "Sasuke!" Kumiko cried out, rushing over to him. He seemed barely conscious.

"It's the curse mark again!" He whispered. Kumiko frowned. The curse mark was acting negatively on him. This was not needed in a fight against a demon! Gaara screamed as he jumped their way. Kumiko didn't have enough time to fight back, so instead she threw herself on top of Sasuke, ready to protect him from harm.

The blow never came though. Instead, Gaara was thrown back, thanks to someone kicking him. Kumiko lifted herself off Sasuke. "Naruto!" She cried out in joy. She felt two bodies land next to her. "Sakura! And Pakkun!"

"Sasuke! Kumiko!" Sakura cried when she saw them. Kumiko quickly climbed off Sasuke and stood. Naruto and Gaara were staring each other down, breathing heavily. Sasuke was barely able to lift himself as he looked to Naruto.

"What…what are you doing here?" He sounded so strained, and was crying out as he was trying to stand.

"Hey, uh, earth to Sakura…Sakura!" Naruto quietly called. Sakura seemed irritated as she turned her attention to him.

"What do you want?!" She snapped. Naruto pointed towards Gaara.

"This guy over here. Who is he?" He questioned. Kumiko felt herself fall on the branch. Naruto sure can be a moron. When she got up, she opened her mouth to explain.

"His outward appearance may be different, but there's no doubt about it that that is Gaara." She spoke quietly. Naruto looked stunned at the news as he jumped. Sasuke was still making noises. They had to get him out of there quick.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked Naruto. Sasuke kept trying to stand.

"Sasuke, quit trying to get up!" Kumiko berated, trying to keep the younger boy from hurting himself more.

"So, it's you. You're the one I didn't kill that day." Gaara told Naruto. His eyes then shot right through him, straight to Kumiko. "And you. You. I want to kill you even now. More than before." Her eyes widened as her breath caught. What?

"Guys get up! We have to go now!" Naruto called out, right as Gaara shot past him. Kumiko couldn't tell whether he was going after her, or Sasuke, so, she instead jumped in front of Sasuke, ready to protect. Yet, what she didn't expect, was Sakura to do the same thing. Kumiko had gotten shoved down, while Sakura took the brunt of the attack. Gaara had hit her with his demon arm, and pushed her against a tree. It seemed to have knocked her out cold.

"Sakura, no!" Kumiko cried out. She stared up at Gaara in horror. Naruto landed besides them, and grabbed Sasuke, taking him to another branch. Kumiko just laid there. Could she use her doll jutsu right now? It only works with DNA, and she wasn't quite sure if she could grab any off of Gaara currently. What else could she do?

Gaara was holding his head, and looked directly down at Kumiko, blood lust filling his eyes. "Why? Why do you pick them over me?" He questioned, his voice strained. Kumiko felt her eyes widen.

"What…what do you mean why?" She whispered. "They're my friends. You're just some crazy guy from Suna!" Gaara's eyes widened.

"Friends. Crazy. Kumiko." Gaara mumbled, seeming as if he was trying to process the words she had spoken. "I was…your friend." Kumiko felt herself shaking.

"No. You weren't. I've never met you before the exams!" She was trying to prolong this while hopefully Naruto thought up a plan.

"You don't…remember me." His voice turned angry. "Well, why not?!" And with that, his arm came swinging down quickly. There was no escape for Kumiko, so, she did the only thing she could do.

She rolled off the branch.

"Kumiko!" Naruto screamed, as he watched his friend plunge down onto the hard ground. Kumiko felt the impact on her head, and blacked out.

_Looks like it's up to you, Naruto_.

* * *

**Okay, I am really horrible at these action scenes. Like...wow. No words. But! Did you guys like Kumiko's new technique? Best enjoy it because she won't get another new one until the 3 year time skip. **

**Fun Fact: In case you guys can't tell by the ending, Gaara wasn't lying. He did know Kumiko before the exams! It'll all unravel in my next chapter, which is one I've been planning since the beginning of the story! You guys, please don't think that this is gonna make Kumiko a Mary Sue. I'm trying so hard to make her normal. I just wish to have little twist and turns. **

**Question: Did you enjoy the fight between Temari and Kumiko?**


	21. Sabaku no Kumiko

_She could remember now. The little boy. The one on the swingset. Holding the teddy bear. The innocence in his eyes, but the terror in the other children's._

_It had been a normal day in Suna. The children were out playing with a ball. Kumiko, was one of them. She was laughing along with the others, getting her fill in. She noticed the boy on the swings. The one with the red hair, and the dark circles that filled in around his eyes._

_She had asked the other kids if he could play with them, but they all made faces and said no. Kumiko didn't bother to ask why. She already felt like she had annoyed them with the silly question. Or at least, to them, it was silly. She knew exactly who the boy was. Sabaku no Gaara. The Kazekage's child, and the boy who could control the sand. _

_She didn't see an issue with it though, unlike the other children. Maybe they just didn't like the boy since he was cooler than them. She didn't dare ask though. She's always been a more, 'go with the flow', child. If they didn't like a kid, than neither did she. After all, these were the kids she had grown up with the last 6 years. They were to start at the academy together next month._

_"__Power shot!" One of her friends, Soma, cried out, and he kicked the ball really hard. So hard, that it went up so high, and landed on the top of the cliff they were playing in front of._

_"__Soma you idiot!" Kumiko called, saddened that they had lost the ball. "Oh man, now what do we do?" Everyone else seemed at a loss._

_"__I don't know any wall climbing jutsu, do you?" A girl, Bisca, questioned. Everyone mumbled a soft, 'no'. Then, all their eyes widened, seeing the ball slowly come back over from the cliff, and into Gaara's hands. He stared at it a few seconds, then turned to look at everyone else._

_"__It's him!" Soma stuttered, fear crossing his face. Kumiko felt her mouth open a little, ready to ask for the ball back so they could continue their game, but paused, seeing Gaara's nervous face. He looked rather terrified of them honestly, but then, he seemed a little more confidant._

_"__Here." He said softly, and held the ball up. Kumiko smiled lightly, and was going to walk to him, but Bisca grabbed her._

_"__It's Gaara." She told her, as if she didn't already know._

_"__He's creepy." Soma whispered. And then, they all turned and ran. Kumiko, not understanding why they were running, tried pulling away from Bisca, who had kept a tight hold on her._

_"__B-Bisca! Let go!" She cried out, tugging her hand away. But Bisca kept a tight hold._

_"__No, wait!" She heard Gaara say, and then, something grabbed at her ankle, tripping her. She felt herself being dragged, which finally, made her cry out in fear._

_"__Please stop it!" She yelled, trying to free her ankle from the sand that had grabbed her. She could feel it tightening around her, almost as if it was going to break. "Please!" Then, as if a guardian angel was standing by, a man quickly ran up, and blocked the sand from its hold on her._

_"__No Gaara! You can't do this!" Gaara was staring at the man._

_"__Yashamaru." He spoke. Then it was silent as the wind blew. Kumiko felt herself still shaking. Slowly, she got up off the ground, and turned heel and ran. Ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. Away from the playground. Away from the ball. Away from the monster that grabbed her._

_"__Daddy! Daddy!" Kumiko cried out as soon as she reached home. Her father had turned away from the elderly lady he was talking to, to look at his daughter._

_"__Kumiko? What's wrong? Did something happen at the playground?" Rabu Gisei questioned as he tried to pry his daughter off his legs, which she had wrapped her arms around. _

_"__The sand. It almost got me! It hurts. My ankle hurts!" She cried, tears running down her face. Gisei had a very concerned look on his face as he looked at his daughter's ankle. _

_"__It seems fine to me. Maybe a little bruised. What do you mean the sand almost got you?" He asked. The elderly lady walked over to them. _

_"__She must be talking about young Gaara. I heard he was at the playground too. Today." She spoke up. Kumiko nodded hesitantly. "I figured. Poor boy. It's not his fault he can't control the demon's sand."_

_"__But that doesn't explain why he targeted Kumiko." Gisei snapped. Kumiko wiped her face._

_"__He brought the ball down from the roof when Soma kicked it there. I was getting the ball, then Bisca and the others got scared and ran." She told him. "Then, the sand attacked me, to keep me from running." The elderly lady made a 'tsk' sound._

_"__Seems like young Gaara just wanted to play with the others and got nervous." She rolled her eyes. "Kumiko must have been caught in the cross-fire." Gisei frowned. Leave it to his daughter to get caught up in trouble._

_"__It doesn't matter anyways. Just stay away from the red-haired boy if he scares you that much." He told Kumiko. She nodded slowly. He did scare her. Very much so. Or at least, the sand surrounding him did. Her father stood up. "I have to go now. The Kazekage needs me to prepare for a morning mission. I have errands to run." He kissed his daughter on the head. "I love you, Kumiko." He then turned to the elderly lady. "Please watch over her." _

_The elderly lady rolled her eyes. "Yes yes. Not like it's already not something I do all the time." _

_"__Thank you." Gisei smiled._

_"__Love you daddy. Come back soon!" Kumiko called out, as her dad exited their home. Kumiko and the elderly lady stared at each other then. "Old hag."_

_"__Brat. You remind me too much of your mother." The elderly lady sneered. "You look too much like her." _

_Kumiko stuck her tongue out. "Don't be jealous my mom is way prettier than you." She then frowned. "Mom says she might come back around in a few weeks." The elderly lady scoffed._

_"__Yeah right. You probably won't see her again for another 3 years afterwards." Kumiko frowned. The last time she saw her mother had been 3 years ago, when she was 3. It was briefly. Maybe a few hours, then she was gone again. But she does write to her quite often. Told her about her travels around the world. How much she missed her. Wished she could see her. But she never does. _

_There was a knock at the door. _

_"__Get the door brat. I have some medicine to work on." The elderly lady snapped. Kumiko rolled her eyes, and walked over to the door. As soon as she opened the door, she regretted it._

_It was Gaara._

_"__Sorry about earlier. I know it must have hurt." He spoke softly, and seemed really terrified. Kumiko was terrified herself. He held up a bag to cover his face. "I brought you some medicine, if you want." _

_It was silent between them. Kumiko had two choices. Close the door and hope he gets the message, or forgive him and accept the medicine. In all honesty, she wanted to choose the first one, but just like her godfather, she has too big a heart to do so._

_"__Thank you." She said quietly, reaching to grab the medicine. Gaara flinched slightly as she took it. They stared at each other in silence. Then, Kumiko broke it. "Would you like to come in?" _

_"__No brats allowed!" The elderly lady shouted from the other room. Kumiko rolled her eyes. _

_"__Never mind, I guess." She said. "Thank you, again." She turned and was about to close the door, when Gaara finally broke his silence._

_"__Wait!" He cried out. She paused, and looked back at him. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but still looked scared. "Would you like to watch the stars with me?" Kumiko seemed taken aback by that question. Watch the stars? From where? _

_"__I love the stars." She smiled lightly, then turned and called inside their home, "I'll be back old hag!" And with that, she closed the door, and turned back around towards Gaara. "Well, let's go." _

_Gaara had taken her to the roof of a home. She wanted to assume his home, but it seemed too small to be where the Kazekage lived. The two were sitting on the railing surrounding the house, just gazing up at the stars, in their own little world. Kumiko glanced at Gaara, and saw how content he looked._

_He looked perfectly harmless. Like any other normal kid. There was no sand, no malicious intent or anything. He seemed just like her. _

_"__Gaara," She began quietly. "Why does your sand hurt people?" Gaara jumped at the question. Not knowing how to answer, he shrugged. "Doesn't it know that you're lonely, because it's hurting others?" _

_"__I don't think so. I think it has a mind of its own." He said softly. "As if it doesn't care." He then looked down. "I have no friends, because of it. It's a curse." Kumiko frowned. _

_"__I'll be your friend. Your sand doesn't scare me. I'll give it a piece of my mind if needed." She told him. Gaara looked at her in awe. Friend. She said she'd be his friend._

_"__Does that mean you love me?" He asked, thinking back on his conversation with his uncle, Yashamaru. Kumiko raised an eyebrow._

_"__Love? Why do you ask that? I don't think I can _love _you. I was told to only love my family." She spoke. Gaara seemed saddened by her words. So even though she would be his friend, she can't love him. Does that mean she doesn't really care for him? _

_All of a sudden, Gaara's sand went up, as a shield behind him. Kumiko gasped loudly at the sudden movement, and she back off the railing._

_"__Kumiko!" Gaara said, turning around to see what had happened. His eyes widened in fear at the sight of a sand ninja standing a few yards behind them, kunai floating around him. The sight of the shinobi, began to anger Gaara. Why? Why him? Why is it always him? _

_He got off the railing, a fire burning in his eyes. _

_Kumiko's eyes were wide with fear. Who was that? And why were they targeting Gaara? The ninja sent more kunai towards Gaara, and Kumiko screamed. Gaara seemed angered, and the sand stopped the kunai. Then, Gaara wrapped his sand around the sand ninja, and squeezed. Kumiko's eyes widened in horror at the blood that splattered the wall behind them, and ground._

_Gaara just killed someone, right in front of her. Now she knew why the other kids were scared of him. The kid could kill with a blink of the eye. Then, all of a sudden, Gaara was shaking. He seemed terrified again. _

_"__Gaara?" Kumiko spoke quietly as she got up, and slowly walked to him. He seemed sane again. _

_"__Who are you?" He asked the shinobi, his voice shaking. "What do you want?" It was silent, and Gaara began walking closer to the shinobi._

_"__Gaara, wait-" Kumiko started, hoping to stop him, but then he was right next to the ninja. He pulled the cloth off the shinobi's face. Kumiko became startled when she realized she knew who the shinobi was._

_It was her guardian angel from earlier._

_"__You did well Gaara." He spoke. "You did very well." Gaara seemed horrified to find out who it was. Then, he clutched at where his heart was. _

_"__Yahasmaru." He said, then crouched down, and let out a heart-wrenching scream. Sand surrounded him, and Kumiko screamed. Then the sand died down, and Kumiko felt her heart beating a mile a minute. Who was this guy? Gaara started sobbing._

_"__Why? Why? Yashamaru? Why did you do it? I don't understand. Tell me why." He begged. "I thought, Yashamaru, if I'm precious to you, how could you?"_

_Yashamaru looked away from the young boy._

_"__It was an order. You see, I was ordered, to kill you Gaara. By lord Kazekage. Your father." He spoke. Kumiko felt her heart drop. _

_The Kazekage ordered the death of the young boy? And not just any boy, his own son? Who does that? The Kazekage was supposed to protect the people here. Not order them to be killed!_

_"__My father?" Gaara repeated. He then seemed sick. "Why me? Why, father?"_

_"__You were born with the Shukaku, the sand spirit, inside you. All these years you have been watched and studied as part of a great experiment. It became clear that you could never control it, the Shukaku that possesses the power, the sand itself. The day is coming, where your existence will be too dangerous for the village. It had to be done before then." Yashamaru explained. Kumiko felt herself shaking, trying to make sense._

_"__So, you had to obey his father then, right? You didn't have any choice?" She spoke, trying to help make Gaara feel better._

_"__You're wrong. I had a choice. Yes, Kazekage-sama made his wishes clear to me, but I could have refused if I had chosen to. I suppose it's because, deep in my heart, I hate you Gaara. I've always hated you. My sister died bringing you into this world. I can't forgive you for that. I told myself you were all I had left of her. Since I had loved her, I should love you." Yashamaru continued. Kumiko felt herself beginning to get sick. So he must be Gaara's uncle._

_"__I tried, but I never could. It wasn't her choice to have you. To be made a human sacrifice. So she died, cursing this village. The day she died I felt a wound in my heart that would never heal."_

_Kumiko felt her heart aching as Yashamaru continue, talking about how Gaara got his name. How she hated the village, and that Gaara should only live for himself, not for the village._

_"__You were never loved, Gaara._

_"__Never."_

_Yashamaru then opened his jacket, and revealed a bomb. _

_"__But now, this is the end."_

_Kumiko's eyes widened even more. "Please, NO!" She screamed, but her scream was drowned out by the bomb going off._

_When the explosion and dust cleared up, it was revealed that Gaara's sand had protected both her and Gaara from it. Gaara was sobbing his heart out, and Kumiko felt herself beginning to cry also. _

_Gaara didn't deserve that. No kid does. It's not his fault that the sand demon was forced upon him. Suddenly, Gaara went silent, and it seemed as if something in him had snapped. The sand began forming around him, and he let out anguished cries. Once it stopped, he was breathing heavily._

_"__Gaara…?" Kumiko said quietly, hesitantly reaching out to touch him. He turned to look at her, and she immediately knew, that that wasn't the same kid from before. He looked different. There was now a kanji reading the word, "Love", on his forhead. "Gaara?"_

_Then a giant roar was given off by him, and Kumiko screamed even louder. He was no longer Gaara, she realized. The sand demon must have taken over him, and it seemed he was going to rampage around Suna. _

_"__No Gaara, please stop!" She cried out, shaking. This poor boy. He didn't deserve any of this. _

_"__Kumiko?! Kumiko!" She could hear her dad calling out her name. _

_"__Daddy!" She screamed. How did he know where she was? Her father appeared by her._

_"__Kumiko what's going on?" He asked, then looked over to Gaara, and saw that he was becoming a sand beast. "Is that Gaara?!" Kumiko shakily nodded her head. _

_"__He changed!" Was all she could say. Then, suddenly, Gaara's arm lashed out, hitting the two of them. Kumiko was sent flying off the roof of the building, and Gisei's leg was slashed open. _

_"__Kumiko!" Her father screamed, trying to crawl towards the ledge, but he couldn't move. _

_"__Daddy!" Kumiko couldn't help but yell as she fell. She didn't know what happened after that. All she felt, was a hard impact on her head, and everything went black._

_She could hear voices surrounding her. All unfamiliar, besides one._

_"__Thank you for doing this, Inoichi." That was her fathers. Inoichi? Who was that? _

_"__It's no problem. I know if the roles were reversed, I'd be glad for someone to do the same to my kid. Especially one as hard headed as my own." The two laughed, and it then faded into silence._

_Finally, her dad broke it. "She won't remember a thing, about Suna, right? About…him?" Him…Gaara? What even happened? All she remembered was a huge explosion, and she blacked out._

_"__Nothing. Won't even recognize his face if she ever saw him again. I've designed false memories to be inserted. Thankfully since she's still young, she doesn't even have that many memories in general." Inoichi spoke, then paused. "Are you sure you want me to also hide the memories of her mother?" Her mother? No! She can't forget about her!_

_"__It's the only way to keep her safe, here, in Konoha. We can't have too many people questioning her heritage, especially when her mother is so well known." Her father quietly said. Kumiko wanted to scream - wanted to cry. He was going to take away the memories of the people she had known, and grown up with, and force her in a world of new unknowns!_

_"__How is your leg going?" Inoichi asked. Gisei went silent, then sighed heavily._

_"__Some ligaments were torn. I was told that I can walk in the future, but I'll never be able to run again without limping or even almost falling. It's almost impossible for me to even walk right now without already limping. My shinobi days are over." He told him. _

_"__I'm sorry to hear that. At least you guys are safe here for now." Inoichi spoke up._

_"__Yeah."_

_"__Andl, on the bright side, she starts the academy in a few weeks. I'm sure she'll quickly be able to make friends there. Since you guys will be known as a civilian family, it won't be a surprise to the kids when she shows up." Inoichi said. "Whole new beginning."_

_But she didn't want a new beginning. She wanted to keep her Suna life. She wanted to remember her mother, remember Gaara, remember her friends. She wanted to remember who she was. _

_But she didn't get to._

Kumiko felt her eyes open. She could still hear fighting going on. Were Gaara and Naruto going at it? What was happening? She heard bodies hitting the ground. As she turned the other way, she was surprised to see a normal looking Gaara laying several feet away from her, Naruto even further away, on the other side of Gaara. Gaara strained to look over at Naruto.

Kumiko tried to stand up, but her body felt paralyzed. She couldn't move an inch. Her body must have still been trying to wake up.

Naruto was trying to inchworm towards Gaara.

"Naruto. " She said softly. Naruto seemed to pause. Was that Kumiko he just heard?

"Kumiko? Kumiko is that you?" He questioned with such pain.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm always here." She spoke, a soft smile on her face. Naruto felt himself smile, then he continued towards Gaara, determination on his face.

"Gaara." Naruto said softly.

"No! Stay away!" Gaara snapped at him. But Naruto didn't listen.

"It's almost, unbearable, isn't it? The feeling of being all alone? I know that feeling. I've been there, in that dark and lonely place. But now there are others. Other peole who mean a lot to me." He said, and continued inch-worming. "I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't ever let anyone hurt them. That's why I will stop you, even if I have to kill you!"

"But why?" Gaara asked. "Why would you do this for anyone but yourself?"

"Because they saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They're my friends." Naruto answered.

"Love. Is that the thing that makes him so strong?" Gaara quietly answered.

Kumiko finally broke her silence. "I remember now. The little boy. On the swing set, with the teddy bear. The one who protected me." Gaara turned to look at her now. His eyes held such pain in them.

"You…remember?" He asked. She nodded.

"I'm so sorry Gaara. I was your friend. Yet I wasn't there when you needed me. I'm so sorry." She cried. "You were alone for years."

"That's enough, Naruto, Kumiko." They heard Sasuke's voice. "Look, Sakura's going to be alright. The sand crumbled away, she's free." Kumiko felt better, hearing that Sakura was going to be okay. "This guy's chakra is all used up."

Naruto sighed. "Oh, that's a relief." He then seemed to pass out. Then, Kankuro and Temari appeared, surrounding Gaara. Temari facing Kumiko, and Kankuro facing Naruto and Sasuke. They still seemed ready to fight.

"That's enough. It's over." Gaara spoke.

"But Gaara…" Kankuro said softly. He looked at his brother, and then sighed. "Alright Gaara." He then picked his brother up.

"Please, don't go." Kumiko said, reaching her hand out. "I just got you back." Gaara stared at her, but said nothing. Then, the 3 sand-nin, disappeared, up into the trees. Not to be seen for a while.

Kumiko, instantly felt sleepy. Maybe another nap will do her well.

* * *

**Well, there we go. This chapter is good and done, and this pretty much ends the Chuunin Exams Arc! I can't believe it took me like a year and a half to do this. So thanks for sticking it out with me guys!**

**Fun Fact: I'm sure you guys can easily tell who the elderly lady was, and I'm hoping you can connect the pieces as to who Kumiko's mother is, because you're going to find out who in either 2 or 3 more chapters. Haven't decided yet. **

**Question: Were you satisfied with this arc? Did it show you who Kumiko was? Let you get to know her?**

**Also, may I just say to the one Guest, who interviewed and called Kumiko average. Thank you. I tried to make her average! I'm so sick of other authors making their characters Mary-Sue's, and so powerful with like, 100 different powers that makes them even stronger than Naruto! Naruto is supposed to be the strongest character in the whole story! That being said, this is also only THE FIRST ARC. Kumiko is only 14! How much stronger do you expect her to be at that age? And if you were able to connect dots easy, you can probably tell that she isn't just from any civilian family. Anyways, thank you for your review! I hope you do understand that I like that my story is, "Boring as shit." It still has readers who enjoy it, and I enjoy writing it. **


	22. A Rough Couple Days

It was quiet. So quiet. No birds were chirping, no kids were playing, absolute silence.

It was bothersome.

"Kumiko. I see your face twitching. I know you're awake." She heard a familiar voice say. Knowing she'd been caught, she reluctantly opened her eyes, and looked up to where the voice had come from. It was her dad.

"Dad." She quietly mumbled, her eyes still trying to squeeze together, not ready for them to stay open. "Where are we?" Her dad frowned.

"We're home." He told her. "You're in your bed." It was then, that Kumiko realized he was right. The room they were in was hers.

Kumiko looked around. _She_ was home. But were the others? "What about Naruto? Sakura? Sasuke?"

"They're all okay. Everyone's home. The sand-nin have disappeared." He told her, then looked like he had to bite his tongue. It didn't work out too well though. "You shouldn't have gone off on your own. I told you repeatedly to stay away from Gaara. Every time you go near him, something bad happens."

Kumiko froze. That's right. Gaara. The boy with the red hair. The one with the teddy bear, on the swingset. The one who sent her flying off the roof, and permanently damaged her father's leg. The one, who couldn't control his emotions.

"Gaara." She whispered. Her heart was thumping loudly. "Gaara. We…we were friends."

Her dad's eyes widened immensely. How did she know they used to be friends? Unless…

"The night. On the roof," Kumiko kept mumbling. "Gaara…he went crazy. He almost killed us. Back in Suna! Wait, we used to live in Suna?" She looked up her dad with wide eyes. "You took my memories! My memories of everyone in Suna! And of mom!"

Her dad looked so tense. Almost as if he couldn't find the words to say.

"Kumiko, I had to do what was best for you." Was all he could muster. But, Kumiko wasn't buying it. She kept shaking her head.

"No. I don't know what you were thinking. I don't know why either. But you took me away from my home. My friends. Everyone I knew there…" She could feel herself shaking. "You didn't have to."

Her father shook his head this time. "No, Kumiko. I _had_ to. When Gaara knocked you off the roof that night, you hit the ground. Even though we have sand everywhere on the ground, your impact was anything but soft. Your head, it…was at an awkward angle when I found you. I thought you had broken your neck. That terrified me even more. But you hurt your head, and I couldn't wake you up.

"Kumiko, you were in a coma for two weeks."

Kumiko felt her heart beating faster. A coma? For two weeks? How?

"When you woke up, all you wanted to do was find Gaara, and be with him. I didn't know why, I didn't understand. All I knew, was that I wasn't going to take any chances. We couldn't be there anymore. I knew we had to get out."

"Then how did we end up in Konoha?" Kumiko asked. "We don't take random refugees here." Her father looked even more tense now that he was about to relay the next news to her.

"Because your mother is a kunoichi from here."

It went silent. The room was deadly quiet.

Kumiko's eyes were wide. Her mother was a kunoichi? From here? Konoha? All she was ever told was that her mother was a civilian, who died giving birth to her. And if Kumiko originally lived in Suna, it was safe to assume her mother was from Suna, as well.

"Wait, I don't understand," Kumiko kept trying to make sense of everything. Wait, her father used a certain word that rang out at her. _Is._ "What do you mean she _is_ a kunoichi? Don't you mean _was_? You told me she died in childbirth!" A memory began to replay.

_"__Love you daddy. Come back soon!" Kumiko called out, as her dad exited their home. Kumiko and the elderly lady stared at each other then. "Old hag."_

_"__Brat. You remind me too much of your mother." The elderly lady sneered. "You look too much like her." _

_Kumiko stuck her tongue out. "Don't be jealous my mom is way prettier than you." She then frowned. "Mom says she might come back around in a few weeks."_

A few weeks. Her mom, was still alive back then? She…_didn't_ die in childbirth?

"My mom is alive." She whispered, her eyes as wide as an owl's. Her mother was alive, and possibly in Konoha right now! "She has to be here now, right?! I…I have to find her!" Kumiko immediately tried getting out of her bed, but her father shoved her shoulder, pushing her back down.

"No!" He snapped. Kumiko let out an audible gasp, absolutely stunned that her father had gotten physical with her. Why? She didn't understand. This was not the same man who stood before her 2 months ago. He seemed completely different now.

"Why not?" Kumiko snapped back. Her father stared daggers at her.

"It is not safe. If everyone knew who your mother was, you'd be a target. And I can't do that to you Kumiko. The only ones who know, is me, and Third-sama." He told her, then his mood immediately shifted. He looked saddened. Kumiko didn't realize it though.

She climbed back out of bed, and smacked her father's hand away. Heading towards the door, she glared. "If you won't tell me, than Hokage-sama will!" Her father's next choice of words made her stop dead in her feet.

"He can't, Kumiko. He's dead."

The next day was the funeral. Kumiko had met back up with her team, and they were all heading towards the Hokage's building. The village was silent. Kumiko could see that Neji and Lee wanted to ask her so many questions about what happened to her during the attack, but they knew that they couldn't. Every shinobi had gathered atop the building, silently saying their goodbye's to the man who lead them.

Kumiko was staring at the ground. Third-sama was dead. He died fighting against Orochimaru, apparently. She had no idea that Ororchimaru was the one who was leading this. She had thought it was all the sand's fault. From what she heard, he had killed the Kazekage of Suna, and was masquerading as him. So, in a way, maybe it wasn't really the Sand's fault that they were attacked.

They were just following orders.

_Plop…plop…_

Kumiko finally lifted her head a little. It was beginning to rain.

"It's raining…" She quietly said. Neji, who was standing on one side of her, with Lee on the other, also lifted his head.

"Even the heavens weep." He spoke. Kumiko felt her eyes getting watery, but she tried to keep the tears in.

"We are gathered here today to honor not only the Third Hokage, but all those who sacrificed themselves in this battle, so that our village would survive." One of the elders said.

One by one, everyone started taking roses up to the Hokage's coffin. Kumiko felt her heart aching with ever flower that was laid. She could hear Konohamaru crying. Poor kid lost his grandfather. She never had a grandfather, so she couldn't relate. If anything, Third-sama felt like a grandfather to her. He was like one, to every kid in the village.

Soon, it was the younger kids turns to take their flowers up.

Choji laid his, then Ino, then Sakura, Saskue, Neji, Lee, then, Kumiko.

As she slowly walked up to the coffin that Third-sama laid in, her heart ached. Third-sama died as a true shinobi, protecting their village from evil. He took care of her, as if she were one of his own. He loved everyone, and believed there was some bit of good in everyone.

Even those who meant harm to the village.

But he was a protector. A strong one. Maybe now, it'll be easier for him to watch over the village.

After setting down the flower, she walked off, towards her friends. Finally, the rain had stopped.

"Iruka-sensei," She heard Naruto start. "Why do they do it? Why do they risk their lives for other people?"

The question seemed to take Iruka by surprise. "Well, when someone passes away, it's the end. His past, and future, all the dreams he once had, they disappear along with him. This is true, even if he died honorably in battle, as so many have. As Hayate did. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed. All but one. The most important of all. People. Parents. Siblings. Friends. Lovers. The people who are important to him. And these people, the ones left behind, are chosen together in one great circle by their shared memories of him. A circle of friendship, trust, and sacrifice that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it. We remain in the circle together. We have no choice. It's important to us."

Naruto seemed to have understood. "So we do it because we have to. I get it. Sort of. Still, I'm sad he's gone." Kumiko nodded. Her too.

"Think how sad it would be if he died for nothing. But he left us something priceless. Don't worry, you'll understand one of these days." Kakashi spoke. Naruto turned to look at him.

"Hey, give me some credit. I get it." He smiled. Kumiko gave a small sniffle. She felt saddened by the thought that she might never get to know who her mother was. Her father sure won't tell her, and Third-sama now can't. She doubted she could spot her mother here, if she was. She was told that she looked almost exactly like her though. Oh well. Maybe she'll get to know in the future.

"The rain, it stopped." Sakura said, just now realizing that it did indeed stop. Slowly, the clouds began moving, and the sun came out.

It was as if the Hokage himself was looking down on everyone, smiling at them.

After the funeral, Team Gai had met back up at their usual spot on the building they were when they had their first team meeting.

"Gai-sensei!" Kumiko cried out, latching her arms around her sensei. Said sensei wrapped his arms around her too as tears poured out his eyes.

"Kumiko my dear student! I'm so glad to know that you're okay!" He sobbed. Kumiko felt herself getting teary-eyed.

"Gai-sensei! I don't understand anything anymore!" She sobbed back. Neji and Lee shared looks.

"What do you mean you do not understand anything anymore?" Lee questioned. He seemed to be okay. He was asleep during the whole sand-nin fiasco, so he was remained untouched.

Kumiko frowned. She could trust her teammates. They wouldn't betray her or anything. Right?

So, with that, she began to explain everything. From what happened in the arena, to fighting Temari (and kicking her ass), to Gaara becoming crazy again, to being knocked out, her memories resurfacing, how she originally lived in Suna, the roof with Gaara, and her mother.

When she was done, her team looked stunned at the news. "Well, that would explain why I had never seen your dad before you even joined the academy." Gai mumbled.

"Or why I had never seen you before either, despite both of us being civilians." Lee added.

"Also does explain Gaara's odd fascination with you." Neji concluded. Then he frowned. "Your mother is still alive?"

Kumiko looked away. Her father has been lying to her her whole life. Could she even believe that her mother is actually still alive? "I don't know. I think so."

"What if she is though? Don't you think she would have wanted to be with you?" Neji asked. Kumiko immediately felt her heart stop.

If her mother _did_ want to be with her, wouldn't she be? Why would she only be with her dad? Did her mother just not want her? Why did she, all of a sudden, feel abandoned?

"Neji, be careful with your words." Lee chastised his teammate. He could tell that by Neji's words, Kumiko was rethinking things.

"Kumiko," Gai spoke, putting his hand on his student's shoulder. "I don't know why your mother would want to abandon you, but she made a big mistake in doing so. She got to miss out on what a beautiful young lady you've become." Kumiko looked up to her sensei, her face burning red. Leave it to Gai-sensei to say something so cheesy.

"Oh Gai-sensei! Your words of encouragement are nothing short of wonderful!" Lee cried, rubbing his face with his non-broken arm.

Gai started crying also. "Oh Lee! Words of encouragement is all one needs to continue with hope!"

Kumiko rolled her eyes and shared looks with Neji as the two bumbling fools cried together. Kumiko paused as she looked at Neji. Why did he suddenly seem…more mature?

"How are you holding up?" Kumiko quietly asked. Neji cocked his head to the side.

"I'm fine. I should really be asking you the same thing." He spoke. Kumiko shrugged.

"I'm okay for now. I'm just glad everyone is safe." She mumbled, then looked down. Well, everyone but Third-sama. "Well, you guys mainly."

Neji stared at her. "I never got to properly thank you. For seeing me after I lost my match." Kumiko immediately burned red, remembering the hug he had given her. What exactly did the hug mean? She started waving her hands around, trying to get the red to fade.

"Oh! It was no big deal! We are teammates after all!" She hesitantly laughed. Neji just stared at her, then gave a small smile

"Right. Teammates."

The next day came quickly. Kumiko had woken up bright and early, yet didn't feel motivated to do anything. Instead, she laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling, for hours on end, thinking about what was going to happen to the village now.

Everyone was still reeling from the losses of the village, most notably, the Hokage. Without him, who was going to run the village? Would it be the elders? Or will they be quick to appoint a new Hokage? If so, who would he be? Will they be as wise as the Third? As loving? Accepting? Hopefully.

Most importantly though, will they be strong enough? Physically, and emotionally?

What about the sand? Surly the alliance they have with the leaf will crumble? Or will they get a new chance to redeem their selves due to the revealing that it was indeed, Orochimaru, and not the Kazekage who ordered the sand to turn against the leaf?

Too many questions, not enough answers.

Finally, when noon rolled around, Kumiko decided it was a good time to get out of bed. As she got dressed, she could hear her dad moving around in the living room. They haven't gotten much of a chance to talk the last couple days, but Kumiko didn't care. It was a depressing time in the village right now. She, and her father, both still needed to grieve the losses of the village.

Opening the door, she exited her room. Her dad was indeed in the living room, trying to stretch. Recently he had been exercising, trying to move faster than a walk. But, it hasn't been working too well. He still has a limp, and it hurts when he moves too fast.

He's convinced he'll get better one day, but Kumiko has her doubts. As far as she knows, it's impossible to heal the ripped muscle surrounding the wound, correctly.

"You heading out?" Gisei asked, glancing his daughter's way. He had a tired look on his face. Almost as if he had gotten no sleep the night before.

Kumiko nodded slowly. She too, felt tired, despite being in bed the whole morning. "Yeah, I decided enough was enough. Time to go rejoin society." Her dad gave a pity smile, trying to show her, that he thought it was just a bit funny. "I'll be back later."

"Alright, be safe." He called. Kumiko gave a thumbs, and then left the apartment.

She didn't really have anywhere specific she was heading. So, she just started walking. Heading anywhere. Nowhere in mind. If she ran into someone she knew, maybe she'll start a conversation.

The village didn't really seem to have any damage to it. If anything, a lot of the places seemed untouched minus a couple buildings. Zoning out, she could just feel her feet keep walking. Eventually, she realized she had come to be near the Third Training Ground. Close by, was the Memorial Stone. The one that had names of ninjas who have died.

She hadn't been by to visit it for a few months now. With the excitement of everything, she hadn't had time to pay her respects to those who were deceased fighting for the village. Finding the stone, she stood in front of it. Staring down.

Eyes scanning over the names that were written. Her heart dropped as she saw the new one written there. Gekko Hayate. Hayate. The jonin who was in charge of the third exam. He was killed by one of the sand-nin apparently, before the big fiasco.

Kumiko could feel her heart aching for the poor man. She heard he had a girlfriend he was planning on marrying. She couldn't imagine what she was going through right now. Losing the man you love, must be hard. Surly she understood though, right? Hayate died protecting the village, and that was all that mattered.

She couldn't help but wonder if her mother's name was possibly on there. Her father's wording led her to believe that she was still alive, but it's also possible she wasn't, and he just didn't know. It would be so much easier to know, if she could only recall her mother's name. As far as she knew, she only ever called her 'mom', and can't recall her father or the old hag naming her.

"Pleasure seeing you here, Kumiko." Kumiko's ears perked up as she heard a familiar voice. Turning around, she saw who it belonged to.

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei. Hello." She said quietly, giving a small smile. Kakashi was standing a few feet behind her, his attention focused on the stone in front of them. "What are you doing here?"

"Well isn't it obvious? I've come to pay my respect to those on the stone." He answered, raising an eyebrow. Kumiko felt herself blush slightly. Well of course he did! Why else would he have? It's not like he was following her.

"Oh! Of course! Sorry." She said, then frowned. "I've come to do the same." She crouched down, and traced Hayate's name. "It's so sad. How fresh this name is." Kakashi stared at her.

"Yes, it is." He spoke, then walked closer, and crouched down next to her. "But, it's just as sad as the oldest of names on here." Kumiko glanced at him, and noticed his eye was focused directly on a certain name.

_Uchiha Obito_

Uchiha? Kakashi used to be friends with an Uchiha? Or at least, knew one enough to feel pity for? "Uchiha, huh?" She said, with a small smile, her eyes focusing on the name. "The Uchiha sure do have a way of staying apart of this village, no matter what."

Kakashi was silent for a second. "Yes, it would seem so. Whether it be good, or bad."

"Were you two friends?" Kumiko couldn't help but question. Kakashi seemed slightly hesitant to answer, but then decided to.

"Yes. We were. In fact, he's the one who I had gotten my Sharingan from." He told her. Kumiko's eyebrows rose.

"Wow, you two must have been very close for him to trust you with something as important as that." She said. In all honesty, she didn't peg Kakashi as the type to have friends. He seemed more like a lone wolf.

Kakashi shrugged. "You could say that." Kumiko looked down.

"I hope I never see any of my friend's names on here." She mumbled. Especially Lee's nor Neji's. Or at least, anytime soon.

"You know, I always hoped the same thing." Kakashi told her. Kumiko felt her heart drop, hearing his words. That didn't sound reassuring. "Well, I should be going now. I have to go be late to somewhere."

Kumiko nodded, "Okay." With that, Kakashi had departed. Kumiko stood back up. She hadn't even realized she sat down. With one last look at the stone, she too, headed on her way out.

Walking back towards the town, Kumiko's stomach started to rumble. Deciding to grab a bite to eat, she was surprised, but not really, to spot Naruto, at Ichiraku as she passed by. Realizing she hasn't had ramen for a while, she decided to grab some.

"Naruto!" Kumiko called out, a huge smile on her face. Naruto turned to look at her from his seat, the ramen being held in his mouth.

"Umiko!" Naruto yelled, then quickly swallowed the ramen. "How are you? I know we haven't talked the last couple days…" Kumiko smiled lightly, seeing how nervous Naruto had become.

"I'm okay. Doing just fine. How are _you_?" She asked. She wondered how Naruto was doing after the Hokage's funeral. After all, he was pretty close to the old man himself. The Hokage helped raise Naruto, when he could.

"I'm okay. Just hungry." Naruto said, and took another heaping of the ramen. "I need to hurry up and finish so I can do more training though. Are you gonna restart training soon?" Kumiko shrugged. Honestly, she wasn't sure how much more developed her doll jutsu could become. As far as she knew, her father taught her everything he himself knows.

"Maybe. I'm not sure. If anything, I'll probably try and find new things to work on." She told him, then smiled. "I might just work on finding myself a little bit first tho."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" He questioned. Before Kumiko could answer, the owner of Ichiraku cut them off, by welcoming a new customer.

"I had to see it with my own eyes." A _very_ familiar voice spoke. Kumiko and Naruto both paused what they were doing, and looked over. "It looks like you _do _eat nothing but ramen! Huh, short stuff?"

"Huh?! The Pervy Sage/Creepy Perv?!" Both Naruto and Kumiko shouted together. Or at least, Naruto muffled with a mouthful of ramen.

It was, indeed, Jiraiya.

* * *

**And 22 is done! This one actually didn't take me that long to write up. I know, it seemed like a whole bunch of different things put together, but I thought it was all fitting. Tbh, when Kumiko was at the memorial, I was planning on having Shino show up, and them having a deep meaningful conversation (because Shino was basically ignored throughout the whole manga and I feel bad about it), but I thought Kakashi was a better choice. **

**Fun Fact: Kumiko's mother is, indeed alive. Will we ever meet her? Maybe. Maybe not. Haven't decided yet. **

**Question: Should I have Kumiko patch up the relationship with her dad, or should I keep it strained for a little while longer?**


	23. Another Adventure

"What?! Ah no way! How come I get stuck tagging along with you while you do research for another one of your pervy books?" Naruto shouted.

Kumiko couldn't help but giggle at her friend.

After they all had a nice lunch at Ichiraku, Jiraiya had asked Naruto to tag along with him to help with his research. Kumiko was pretty sure Jiraiya just wanted to hang out with Naruto though, instead of focusing on research. He seemed quite fond of the young kid. He tried convincing Kumiko to come along, but she doubted her father would let her.

Team Gai was still out of commission since Lee was still injured. At this rate though…Lee might never get healed, therefore, Team Gai might always be out of work forever. Or, worse, Lee might be replaced by someone else. As if Gai-sensei would ever allow that to happen though. It hurt her heart to think that way.

"Look kid, I can assure you, this isn't just another research trip. There's a woman I have to find, a very remarkable woman." Jiraiya said with a wink. Kumiko immediately made a disgusted face. He was going to drag Naruto on a pervy trip? Really?!

"Well count me out old man! I don't have time to help you find a girlfriend!" Naruto exclaimed, making Kumiko burst out into laughter. "I've got to get busy with my training!" Jiraiya gave Kumiko the stink eye, then looked back at Naruto.

"What training?" He asked. Kumiko raised an eyebrow. Yeah, what training?

"It's time Kakashi-sensei teaches me that new…Chidori thing." Naruto said, then looked deflated.

"Wasn't that move specifically taught to Sasuke though, Naruto?" Kumiko questioned. Usually when sensei's pass on a move to their students, only one really masters it. Clearly Kakashi saw more skills in Sasuke than Naruto.

"Yeah but, I want to learn it too." Naruto muttered. Kumiko felt herself frown. This seems to be a moment where Naruto feels inadequate beside Sasuke.

"I see," Jiraiya spoke. "Hm, you'll just be wasting your time. Chidori isn't really your style." Naruto glared and turned away from them. "And besides kid, the woman we're looking for is _really_ beautiful. I mean gorgeous. Way better looking than Kumiko."

"Kumiko kick!"

"Ow! Kumiko!"

"Creepy perv!"

"Tsk, I don't care! Look pervy sage, who do you think you're talking to? I'm not some dumb kid you can fool with lame excuses. I'm not going!" Naruto snapped. Kumiko rose an eyebrow, he sure did seem serious. Jiraiya seemed slightly annoyed, and started walking off.

"Okay fine, suit yourself. And I could have taught you a jutsu that would make Chidori seem like kid stuff." He spoke. Kumiko rolled her eyes. As if Naruto was dumb enough to fall for this. "Maybe I'll just see if Sasuke wants to come."

Just like lightning, Naruto was in front of Jiraiya.

"He is dumb enough!" Kumiko screamed, although no one was paying attention to her currently. She jogged to catch up to them.

"Right! When do we leave?!" Immediately, Naruto started running off. "I'll go pack my bag! Stay right there pervy sage! I'll be right back; don't move!" Then he was out of sight.

Jiraiya and Kumiko were still staring in his direction in awe. Finally, Jiraiya scratched his head and chuckled. "Gee, what a knucklehead. Still, you can't help liking him."

Kumiko felt herself smile at his words. It was refreshing to see an adult who actually enjoyed being around Naruto. Jiraiya turned to look at her now.

"So, why aren't you packing your bags too?" He asked, a slight smirk on his face. Kumiko raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going. I can't." She told him, crossing her arms. His smirk slightly deterred.

"Well why not?" He asked, but it sounded more like a whine. Kumiko had to fight back smile.

"I don't think my dad will let me. Especially after what happened when Konoha was attacked." She mumbled. "After Hokage-sama…"

Jiraiya was staring at her intently.

"Well how about I ask him? After all, I doubt he'll say no to a best-selling novelist!" He grinned. Kumiko felt herself drop on the ground.

Quickly getting back up, she started pointing at him and stomping her foot. "That's gonna be an even bigger reason for him to not let me go! All you write is smut, you creepy perv!" Finally, she calmed down. "Who is this woman you're going to find?"

Jiraiya smiled now. "If you come with you'll find out." Kumiko sighed. She always has been a really curious person. She's convinced it'll be her downfall one day.

"Fine, I'll ask my dad." She told him. "Just, wait here." Jiraiya grinned, watching Kumiko walk off.

"I knew that'd be easy." Jiraiya said to himself.

Kumiko smiled lightly to herself as she walked off. She seemed to be rather excited. This would be the first trip she'd get to take since before the Chunin Exams. It's been way too long, and her adventurous side was itching to explore.

"Dad!" Kumiko shouted as she walked into their home. "Dad?"

"In the kitchen!" Her dad called out. Kumiko gave a tight smile as she walked into the kitchen. Her dad was sitting at the table, drinking some coffee. "What's up buttercup?"

Kumiko bit her lip. "Remember when I told you I met Jiraiya-sama, and trained with him and Naruto for a bit?" Her father raised his eyebrow, already not liking where this was going. "Well, Jiraiya-sama is back, and wants me and Naruto to go on a small adventure with him."

Her father frowned. "Adventure to where? To do what? Why is he asking you to go?" Kumiko shrugged at all the questions thrown at her.

"Where? I'm not 100% sure. He wants us to help him with his research on another book. He also says he wants to 'find this really gorgeous woman', and I guess because I'm a close friend of Naruto's?" She answered, not seeming very sure of her answers.

"A really gorgeous woman?" Her dad asked, his eyes wide. What gorgeous woman was Jiraiya talking about? The one one he could think of…was… "No! You can't go." Kumiko jumped at her father's voice getting suddenly loud. Her eyes wide.

"What? Why not?" She asked, her temper beginning to slowly rise.

"Because I said so!" Her father said sternly. "It's too dangerous for you to leave Konoha in our time of need. We have no Hokage, and who knows if someone will take advantage of our weakness right now."

"You seemed fine with it a second ago!" Kumiko scowled, throwing her arms around. He really did! What was with the sudden change in attitude?

"That was before-"

Her father paused. Before what?

"What? Huh? Before what?" Kumiko sneered, irritated that her father was trying to keep her home. She didn't understand. The genin teams, like Asuma's and Kurenai's team, they began doing missions again! Surely if she was going with her team, her dad would let her!

Is it just his biased self, being against her going with Naruto?

"Is this about Naruto?" She questioned, her mouth in a frown. "Because if it is, he isn't like Gaara! Naruto would never hurt me!"

"This isn't about Naruto, Kumiko. It's about something else." Her dad sighed. "Something I don't feel comfortable telling you about."

"What? Why not? Dad, I'm your flesh and blood! You should be able to tell me anything." Kumiko spoke. Her dad just stared at her. "Dad?"

"You look so much like her." Her dad spoke, a sad smile on his face. Kumiko's anger immediately disappeared. "Your mother." Was he about to tell her about her? "Every time she got angry with me, she'd make that same face, sneer and everything."

"Dad…" Kumiko whispered.

"You can go." Her dad said, seeming totally defeated. "But please, just, come home happy and safe." Kumiko furrowed her eyebrows at his words, but then smiled.

"I will dad. I promise." She told him, then walked over by him, and gave him a hug around his neck. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." Her dad patted her arms.

"I'm sorry for yelling at _you_." He said. "Now, when are you leaving?"

"Maybe an hour?"

"An hour?!"

Soon after packing, and telling her father goodbye (mind you, he was blubbering like an idiot the same as every other time she's left home), Kumiko was ready to go. Asking her dad to let her sensei know where she was going, she set off. She was walking to the front gate of Konoha, when she spotted Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Naruto! Creepy perv!" She called out, running up to them, a grin on her face. Naruto looked over, and his face lit up, seeing her. He ran up to her, smiling.

"Kumiko! You've come to see me off?" He asked. Kumiko grinned wider.

"Even better! I'm coming with you!" She giggled. Naruto let himself grin at her words. He too, was excited that she was coming. He liked having more people around him. After spending a childhood in basic isolation, it was nice, having people want to spend time with him.

"Awesome!" He all but shouted. "I'm ready than!" He then ran off to the side, and grabbed a yellow backpack. "Let's go!"

Kumiko paused as she looked at Naruto. The backpack he grabbed, was gigantic, and it seemed like he was struggling with it.

"You uh…don't think you might have over done it a little?" Jiraiya asked, looking at Naruto. Kumiko sweat-dropped.

"Geez Naruto, did you pack your whole apartment?" She wondered. She adjusted the small backpack on her back. She kept it simple. An extra change of clothes, because let's face it, she wears the same clothes every day really, underwear, and some water bottles and snack bars. "You do realize we're not going on a trip around the world, right?"

Naruto was struggling to move the backpack.

"Okay, we're going to get nowhere like this." Jiraiya said, then grabbed the bag from Naruto. Then, he opened it, and began throwing all the items out onto the ground. When done, all that was left was clothes, and some food. "There. Perfect!" Kumiko raised an eyebrow, looking over to where a whole hoard of items now laid.

"What about all this?" She asked. Naruto seemed irritated at all his belongings being thrown out and about.

"Yeah! You threw it all out, you take it back to my apartment!" He exclaimed. Jiraiya smirked, and turned to the two people who usually stand watch at the front gates.

"Will you guys return all this for us?" Jiraiya asked. Kumiko stomped her foot and pointed.

"You can't just ask others to clean up your mess you moron! It's extremely rude!" She snapped.

"It's okay. We'll do it." One of the guys said with a slight chuckle. Kumiko pursed her lips, and rolled her eyes.

"Oh whatever. It's not like it's my stuff. Let's just go."

And with that, the trio set off.

The trio had been traveling for maybe twenty minutes when Naruto started to get restless.

"Well? Come on Pervy Sage, I'm on pins and needles. What's this new jutsu you're going to teach me?" Naruto asked, his eyes glistening with excitement. Kumiko couldn't help but smile. Naruto seemed so happy. "The last time around it was a walk on water jutsu! Ooo, is it walking through fire?"

Kumiko sweat-dropped. "Naruto, you can't walk through fire without sustaining some kind of burns. I doubt chakra could repel it." She told him. Naruto looked sad by her words.

"I could dream." He said, then his eyes lit up again. "Oh! Maybe walking on air!" Kumiko didn't even bother to point out that obvious flaw. "Come on Pervy Sage!"

Jiraiya stopped and looked at him. "Alright, enough with the Pervy Sage already. You have no idea what an amazing guy I am, do you?" He asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Huh, what? Amazingly pervy?" Jiraiya seemed offended by that.

"Ohh, you!" He ran up a little, onto a small bridge that was in front of them. "Listen up!" He began doing a little dance. "The Toad Sage is only a cover! Allow me to reveal my _true _identity! From the north to the south, and the east to the west," He now started waving his hair around. Kumiko jerked her head back, weirded out. "Not even spirits can defeat this Sannin! The white maned, Toad Charmer! A red hot ninja, who strikes even the hearts of man, Master Jiraiya!"

Finally, he stopped his dance, and put his foot down.

"Yes! I'm speaking of none other than myself!"

Kumiko and Naruto just stared at him with unimpressed faces.

"Uh huh." Naruto mumbled. Then the duo walked over the bridge, right past Jiraiya and his ego.

Eventually, they came across a fork in the road.

"Atafuku Town? That's ten kilometers from here." Naruto read.

"No, it's 'O'tafuku Town." Jiraiya corrected, walking past them. He still seemed irritated that the two kids blew him off.

"Hey! Wait a second! Pervy sage!" Naruto called, running over to him. Kumiko quickly walked.

"Look kid, I told you already it's Jiraiya. Come on!" He snapped. Kumiko smiled lightly.

"So the fact that a bigwig pervy sage like you is taking us along as his travel companions means something right? I must be a potential genius in the making, right?" Naruto asked.

"I'm just in it for the adventure." Kumiko shrugged. She loved traveling and was so happy Jiraiya asked her to come along.

Naruto seemed happy that he came to that conclusion. He started running in circles laughing, asking why he was picked.

Jiraiya seemed hesitant for a second. "Well the truth is kid, a long time ago, the fourth Hokage used to be a disciple of mine." That seemed to catch both their attentions. "You bear such a resemblance to the Fourth that it's almost laughable."

Kumiko made an oh face. No wonder Jiraiya seemed so interested in Naruto. He reminded him of his disciple. Lord Fourth.

He kept walking. "Sorry, that's the only reason I have for ya. As for Kumiko, she reminds me of an old friend of mine. Namely, the one we're going to meet."

"So wait, I'm like the Fourth?" Naruto asked. Kumiko's ears perked up.

"I'm a lot like the beautiful woman we're going to meet? How so?!" Kumiko wondered. She was even more excited now. Naruto ran forward, past both her and Jiraiya.

"Woo! That's awesome!" He yelled. He then started rambling about him being the same genius as the Fourth. He kept cheering.

"Am I really like her?" Kumiko asked Jiraiya, her eyes wide and in awe. Jiraiya looked down at her and smiled softly.

"Yes. You're exactly like her." He said, and ruffled her head. Kumiko smiled softly. Naruto then accidentally stepped in dog poop, and Jiraiya got irritated again. "The only similarities you share with the Hokage is your hair and stubbornness!"

That seemed to irritate Naruto. "What was what?! You senile Pervy Sage!" Naruto had taken a step forward though, right into more dog poop. "Not again!" Kumiko face-palmed.

What a moron.

Eventually they had come across a shrine, and decided to take a lunch break. Kumiko sat on a step below Jiraiya, leaning her back against his leg, happily munching on a snack bar. Naruto was playing with the bells set up around it, making 'boing' noises.

"Keep it up. You'll be cursed. "Jiraiya warned him, taking out his own food, and eating a it.

"Hey, Pervy Sage," Naruto called. He and Kumiko looked over towards the younger boy. Kumiko smiled a little, seeing that Naruto used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to make 3 more of him, so he could play with both bells. "What kind of student was Fourth-sama?"

Jiraiya seemed ready to boast. "Well I think it's safe to say he rose to greatness because of _my_ tutelage. So, to land me as a sensei, well, let's just say you hit the jackpot!" He said. Kumiko pursed her lips.

"You just look for every chance you can get to boast about something, don't you?" She rhetorically asked. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you were as amazing as I am, you would too." He told her. Kumiko playfully glared. Naruto didn't seem satisfied with his answer.

"Oh what? You don't believe me?" Jiraiya asked, looking at him. "A good teacher will develop good disciples. That goes without saying."

Kumiko furrowed her eyebrows. "Then who taught you, Creepy Perv?" In the book written about the legendary Sannin, it was never mentioned who their sensei was. Mainly just about the battles they've endured during the Third War.

"Who me?" Jiraiya asked. "I learned from Third-sama." Kumiko's eyes widened.

"The Third, huh?" Naruto asked.

"Yup! This was back when the Third Hokage was still a young spring chicken. I was a young buck myself back then!" Jiraiya grinned and chuckled.

"Young buck?!" All the Naruto's exclaimed, then fell off each other, disappearing until there was one left. He had accidentally pulled the bells off the wall, one of them whacking him directly in the head. He went tumbling down the steps, right over them.

Naruto didn't seem to care since he was laughing.

"I uh, got a little tangled up." He said. Kumiko herself couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"What'd I tell ya? Those curses are no joke." Jiraiya spoke, giving a small chuckle himself. "So, wait a second, if you studied with Kakashi, that means you must have gone through the Bell Training, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I did!" Naruto said. Kumiko raised an eyebrow. She remembers hearing about that from Gai-sensei. Kakashi did that with each little genin group he got. All of them except Naruto's team had failed at it. "Only I was tied to a stump. Man I forgot about how much that sucked."

Kumiko couldn't help but giggle.

"What? You too?" Jiraiya asked.

"Huh? What do you mean 'you too'?" Naruto asked, and repeated it.

"Uhh, forget about it!" Jiraiya said. "Why don't you just hurry, get up and return those things?" Him changing the subject seemed to work.

"Easier said than done!" Naruto replied. "I'm kinda tied up!" Kumiko pursed her lips.

"He might have gotten distracted but I sure haven't." Kumiko told him, raising an eyebrow. Jiraiya gave her an innocent look and shrugged.

"I have no clue what you're talking about Kumiko-_hime_." He said, with a grin. Kumiko gave a small scream of anguish. "Yeah, I bet you thought I forgot, didn't you?"

"Whatever you Creepy Perv!" She shouted.

"Stop calling me that!" Jiraiya shouted back, stomping his foot. He then paused, and chuckled. Kumiko tilted her head.

"What's so funny, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, running up to them after fixing the bells.

"Huh?" Jiraiya asked, then ruffled Naruto's head roughly. "Oh you know kid, it's just as I was saying before! A good teacher produces good disciples!" Naruto still seemed confused. "Just make sure everything's back to the way it was, and let's go!"

Naruto sighed and walked back over to the bells. "Yeah yeah, I already did." He rung the bells, and they sounded perfect. "See?" He then bowed his head to pay his respect.

Kumiko smiled.

Finally, they were on the move again.

After a while, they reached a small town.

It didn't seem very normal, like Konoha. It seemed more like a party city. Everyone was out in the streets, gambling and what not. Jiraiya led them to a small hotel, with a beautiful small body of water in front of it. Kumiko and Naruto stopped to look at it while Jiraiya talked to the service desk man.

"Naruto! Kumiko!" Jiraiya called to them. They both looked over. "We're crashing here tonight."

Kumiko raised an eyebrow. "What? Why? We're still good to keep going." She told him.

"A disciple should always obey his master." Jiraiya spoke. Kumiko rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm not trying to be your disciple. That's Naruto." She pointed out.

"I just want to learn some new Jutsu." Naruto claimed, again. For the millionth time that day.

"Yeah, no kidding. That's what makes you a disciple." Jiraiya said. They could hear the clacking of heels behind them, and they all turned around. There was a really beautiful dark haired lady in front of the hotel, looking at the water. She noticed them, and flicked her hair.

That caught both Naruto and Jiraiya's attentions even more, and Kumiko just fell to the ground. Quickly getting up, she pointed at Naruto. "You're already becoming like the Creepy Perv! Like master like student!" They both ignored her, practically drooling over the woman.

Suddenly, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's hand, and placed a key in it. "This is the room key. I want you to go straight up to the room and practice your chakra then get to bed, okay?" He laughed a little and fixed his red poncho.

"What?!" Naruto screamed, looking at the key. "Oh! So I suppose you're gonna tell us it's time for the grown ups to play now! Is that the vibe here you big perv?!"

"It's not like that!" Jiraiya exclaimed, his eyes shifting between them and the beautiful woman. Kumiko rolled her eyes and grabbed Naruto's shoulder.

"Come on Naruto, obviously he won't teach you anything today. Let's head up." She said. Naruto seemed reluctant, but relented.

"I'll be back in an hour or so!" Jiraiya called, waving his hand.

"Whatever you Pervy Sage." Naruto mumbled. Heading up to the room, Naruto opened the door, and they both practically shoved their ways in. Kumiko immediately dropped her bag, and fell on the bed closest to the door. There were two beds, and a nice window.

"Oh, I love hotel beds. It's rare we get to stay in one during our missions." She smiled. Naruto dropped his bag as well by the other bed.

"Hey, there are only two beds." He said, raising an eyebrow. "But three of us." Kumiko sat up.

"Oh, that's okay. We'll just share a bed. I always share one with Neji when we go on missions. Granted, he doesn't like doing it because 'Different genders shouldn't sleep in the same bed unless married', but it's either that or no bed for him at all." She laughed. Naruto seemed to blush slightly as the thought of sharing a bed with a girl, but then shook it off.

"Oh. Okay." He said. Kumiko raised an eyebrow.

"You are okay with that, right? Cause if not, I'm sure you can sleep on the ground." She shrugged. Naruto shook his head.

"No, it's fine with me." He then laughed, trying not to sound awkward. Kumiko smiled as well. Naruto was such a kid. "Go sit on the other bed for now though. I'm going to try and work on my chakra for a bit. Please."

"Sure." Kumiko said with a smile, and did as he asked. Actually, she should work on hers as well. It's been a small while since she's really had to use any. So, the sat there, and meditated. Moving chakra around different parts of her body.

She could sometimes hear Naruto mumbling to himself, but ignored it. Every time she opened her eyes though, she could see a bunch more Naruto's appearing. Eventually, some of them fell asleep.

Kumiko rolled her eyes.

After a couple more minutes, she heard a knock on the door. Both her and Naruto's eyes snapped open, and made eye contact. Naruto climbed off their bed, and headed for the door.

"Oh what now? She dumped you already?" Naruto called out. They knocked again. "I heard you the first time!" Kumiko, realizing that the knocks sounded too urgent, got up too, and walked over to the door.

"Naruto, let me open it." She said, and quickly moved in front of him.

"Wait, Kumiko, what-?" Naruto started, but Kumiko gave him a deadly look.

"Just, let me open it, okay?" She said, with a tone that told him she meant business. He paused, and nodded. Kumiko unlocked the door, and opened it. She felt her heart freeze.

It wasn't Jiraiya, in front of them, like she was hoping.

Instead, standing in front of them, was the person who slaughtered his entire clan not even 5 years ago.

The Uchiha clan.

That's right. Standing in front of them, was Uchiha Itatchi.

His cold Sharingan eyes staring down at the both of them.

* * *

**And that's it for this chapter! Sorry it took a bit. Also sorry that it was mainly dialogue. The next two chapters should be better though. I'll try and update ASAP!**


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